US Blockade Curbs Foreign Investment in Cuba
The US blockade against Cuba stands as a roadblock keeping potential foreign investors away.

The extraterritorial nature of that policy even affects international UN-member organizations, hampering their right to trade with Cuba.

The blockade forbids US companies´ subsidiaries settled in other countries from establishing transactions and investing with Cuban counterparts, a violation subject to sanctions and reprisals.

Additionally, Washington does not allow US investments or credits for development from that country´s main financial and monetary institutions or international companies.

Last year, the World Bank provided $5.3 billion to Latin America and the Caribbean, while the Inter-American Development Bank paid out $4.32 billion for regional development programs. Not one cent was allotted to Cuba.

Early this year, the island should have received a donation of three power generating plants valued at $30 million each as international cooperation and to alleviate the country's energy problems.

However, their sending to the island was not authorized, because some of their parts are from the US, and that country cannot guarantee their maintenance.

Due to threats of closing companies in their countries of origin and banning negotiations, three operators in free trade zones in Cuba were affected, and others supplying US accessories and machines had to be imported from a third market.

These damages are multiplied when one considers that northern nation controls 45 percent of the world's main transnationals.