The case of Scotia Bank, dangerous precedent that threatens other nations

THE power of the U.S. dollar as the principal currency of international business is now being used to pressure Cuba even more under the guise of the Patriot Act and could easily be used to exclude others from the international market, warned the Kingston Jamaica Gleaner daily.

In an editorial published on Tuesday 4 regarding the Canadian Scotia Bank case, the daily criticized the bank for announcing, through its branch in Jamaica, that it will no longer provide money transaction services in U.S. dollars with Cuba, invoking the U.S. law to which it has been subjected.

There is no Jamaican law that prohibits embassies from managing accounts in whatever currency in banks operating in this country," emphasized the publication.

The sovereign government of Jamaica maintains diplomatic relations with Cuba, for which we do not need, nor have we asked, permission from the United States.

Referring to the Patriot Act, supposedly conceived for the war on terror, the Gleaner pointed out that the international community does not consider or recognize Cuba as a terrorist threat to any nation.

The question of the termination of the U.S. dollar accounts of the Cuban embassy is significantly broader than a simple private banking issue or even another dimension of the United States-Cuba conflict, the editorial continues, because it obliges the Jamaican government to take the issue to diplomatic level.

The threat is not only toward Cuba, but also toward our own sovereignty, concluded the important Jamaican daily.