CUBA-US: 'Embargo as Usual' Flies in the
Face of Int'l Opposition
By Patricia
Grogg
HAVANA (IPS) - Cuban Foreign Minister
Bruno Rodríguez complained that the U.S.
embargo against Cuba has remained intact
under the government of Barack Obama, who he
said has "a historic opportunity" to
eliminate the "obsolete" and "unacceptable"
blockade in place for nearly half a century.
On Oct. 28, the United Nations General
Assembly will vote again on a motion calling
for an end to the embargo against Cuba. For
17 years in a row, the U.N. has called on
the U.S. to lift the embargo.
The motion that Cuba will submit to the
General Assembly details the impact of the
embargo on areas like health, education,
food and transportation in this Caribbean
island nation, and says it has cost Cuba 96
billion dollars, or 236 billion dollars at
today's exchange rates.
"It is not hard to imagine the progress Cuba
would have made…if it had not been subjected
to this brutal economic war for (nearly) 50
years," says the Cuban report on the need to
eliminate the U.S. embargo in place since
February 1962.
In the General Assembly's annual vote on the
issue in 2008, 185 countries supported the
motion to lift the embargo, while only three
– the United States, Israel and Palau –
voted against it. The first time Havana
brought the motion, in 1992, it won the
support of just 59 countries.
Rodríguez pointed out that not only does the
international community condemn the embargo,
but most Cubans living in the United States
believe it should be dismantled, and there
is a growing movement against it in the U.S.
Congress.
In a February staff report, U.S. Senator
Richard Lugar, the ranking Republican and
former chairman of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, said Washington "must
recognise the ineffectiveness of our current
policy and deal with the Cuban regime in a
way that enhances U.S. interests."
"After 47 years…the unilateral embargo on
Cuba has failed to achieve its stated
purpose of 'bringing democracy to the Cuban
people'," Lugar wrote in the introduction to
the report, entitled 'Changing Cuba Policy -
In the United States National Interest'.
And in April, Obama said he wanted to
"recast" relations with Cuba.
But this week, the U.S. president extended
the embargo for another year – a largely
symbolic move, as it would be up to Congress
to lift the measure. However, opponents of
the embargo had hoped he would send a signal
by withholding his signature.
The embargo was extended under the Trading
with the Enemy Act (TWEA), enacted in 1917
to restrict trade with countries hostile to
the United States. Only trade with Cuba is
currently restricted under the act.
Rodríguez acknowledged that under the
current administration, Washington has taken
a "less aggressive" stance towards Cuba, and
he described Obama as "well-intentioned and
intelligent."
Cuba, meanwhile, has expressed a willingness
to engage in a dialogue between equals, he
said, as long as there is no attempt to
undermine its independence and national
sovereignty.
"It has also been made clear that Cuba is
not going to negotiate its internal affairs
with anyone, neither the United States nor
any government or group of countries," said
the foreign minister, who added that
"President Obama has a historic opportunity
to use his executive powers or lead the
elimination of the blockade against Cuba."
The official said that although the U.S.
president cannot amend laws, he does have
the power to modify the embargo's
regulations or issue executive decisions, in
order to lift all restrictions on travel to
Cuba by U.S. citizens, for example.
The 1996 Helms-Burton Act, which
strengthened the embargo, gave Congress the
power to override an executive branch
decision to eliminate the embargo.
The Cuban government said that although
welcome, the measures adopted by Obama in
April to lift all restrictions on
Cuban-Americans to visit Cuba and send money
to family members here fell far short, and
were no indication that the embargo had
begun to be dismantled.
The restrictions had been adopted by the
government of George W. Bush (2001-2009).
The document submitted to the U.N. says the
measures "do not go beyond the intention of
returning the question of family ties to the
situation that existed in 2004, when the
economic blockade was in full force."
Havana says the blockade has been the main
hurdle to economic development in Cuba.
Seven out of 10 Cubans have spent their
entire lives under the embargo, which
Rodríguez termed "genocidal" because of
decades of restrictions on the sale of
medicine and food to this country, which
were loosened, however, in recent years.
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
