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The
blockade has become
a financial war
• Deputy
Foreign Minister Abelardo Moreno
reporting on hostile U.S. policy
"The U.S.
blockade of Cuba is increasingly damaging. It has
become a financial war," asserted Cuba’s Deputy
Foreign Minister Abelardo Moreno, during a meeting
with the press to present the country’s report
regarding United Nations General Assembly Resolution
68/8, entitled "The necessity of putting an end to
the economic, commercial, financial blockade of Cuba
by the United States."
Deputy Foreign Minister Abelardo Moreno presented
Cuba’s report regarding United Nations General
Assembly Resolution 68/8, entitled "The necessity of
putting an end to the economic, commercial,
financial blockade of Cuba by the United States."
(Photo: Roberto
MOREJON RODRIGUEZ/ AIN)
Moreno reported
that the economic harm caused to the country "has
reached more than a trillion, considering the
depreciation of the dollar, as compared to the value
of gold on the international market." The exact
total he presented: $1,112,534,000,000, despite a
reduction in the price of gold last year.
"At current
prices, over all of these years, the blockade has
caused damages totaling more than 116.8 billion
dollars," Moreno added, speaking at the Solidaridad
con Panamá Special Education School, attended by
hundreds of physically disabled children.
The Deputy
Minister recalled that, for example, Cuba’s Special
Education system includes 982 educational workshops
which serve to integrate these children into the
social and productive lives of their communities.
Restrictions
imposed by the blockade, however, impede the
acquisition of materials, supplies and technology
for these workshops, impacting 22,872 students with
special needs.
He explained
that, as a result of the hostile U.S. policy, Cuban
children facing retinal cancer can not benefit from
Brachytherapy radiation treatment, because the
radioactive iodine plates needed are only produced
by the U.S. corporation 3M.
Just as the
report states, "The blockade, in addition to being
illegal, is morally unjustifiable," and "No similar
system of unilateral sanctions exists, enforced
against any other country in the world, for such a
prolonged period of time."
Moreno
asserted, "Not a single aspect of the Cuban people’s
social life exists, in which the destructive,
destabilizing effects of the blockade have not had
an impact."
The Deputy
Minister recalled that the blockade is not a single
law, but rather a legislative package which has an
extra-territorial reach, adding, "Not a single
aspect of the country’s economic or social life
exists which escapes the destabilizing effects of
the hostile policy imposed on the island for more
than half a century."
He emphasized
that the blockade dictates that Cuba can not import
or export anything to or from U.S. territory, or use
the U.S. dollar in transactions. Cuba can not access
credit for any purchases, and according to the Helms
Burton Law, any ship which docks in Cuba to do
business must wait 180 days before returning to U.S.
territory.
"It has a
brutal impact on Cuba’s economy and society," Moreno
reiterated.
He emphasized
that a fallacy has emerged with some analysts saying
the blockade has become more "flexible," but the
facts clearly indicate on a daily basis that the
hostile U.S. policy remains in full force. The U.S.
government is currently focusing on sanctioning
third countries which have relations with Cuba,
enforcing the absurd pretension that U.S. law is
universally applicable when it comes to the issue of
Cuba."
He presented,
as an example of this strategy, the case of an
Australian company with headquarters in the U.S.
which was forced to comply with blockade regulations.
Moreno
described the financial persecution of Cuba by
quoting the UN report which states, "Since January
of 2009 through June 2 of this year alone, the Obama
administration has forced 36 U.S. and international
entities to pay almost 2.6 billion dollars [in
fines] for maintaining ties with Cuba."
A relentless
campaign to disrupt Cuba’s financial transactions is
currently one of the most visible reflections of U.S.
efforts to strangle the country’s economy. The
Deputy Minister recalled, as an example, the
exorbitant fine recently levied on the French bank
Paribas for handling Cuban transactions, and those
of other U.S. sanctioned countries.
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