The blockade
continues intact, assures Bruno Rodríguez
Speaking during a press conference offered to
national and international media in Havana, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno
Rodríguez referred to the recent amendments announced by the U.S. Departments
of the Treasury and Commerce and the upcoming visit by President Barack Obama
March 17, 2016
On March
15, the Departments of the Treasury and of Commerce issued new regulations that
modify the implementation of some aspects of the US blockade against Cuba.
This is
the fourth announcement of this sort made by the Government of the United
States since December 17, 2014, when the presidents of both countries made
public their decision to re-establish diplomatic relations.
We are
currently analyzing their scope and practical effects in order to confirm their
feasibility.
After a
preliminary consideration of these measures, it can be affirmed that they are
positive.
Some of
them expand the scope of those which had been adopted before; so is the case
for the one authorizing now individual “people-to-people” educational travels.
However, it should be recalled that the legal prohibition that prevents US
citizens from freely traveling to Cuba is still in force. This prohibition
should be lifted by the US Congress.
Cuba’s
authorization to use US dollars in its international transactions, a measure
which has been included in this new package, concerns an important aspect of
the blockade. For this measure to be viable, the US Government is required to
issue a political statement as well as clear and precise instructions that
would provide legal and political guarantees to banks, in order to halt
financial persecution and reverse the intimidating effects generated by the
sanctions imposed for years on US and third-countries financial institutions
for conducting legitimate transactions with Cuba.
In the
coming days we will attempt to make some transfers in US dollars to confirm
that these can be done and that the banks have received instructions indicating
that they are allowed to engage in financial operations with Cuba without fear
of sanctions. Besides, we hope that, from now on, such fines as those given to
important banks, namely Commerzbank and Credit Agricole, just to mention the
most recent examples, will not be applied again; and that foreign financial
institutions would not refuse to make transactions with our country.
Authorizing
Cuba to use US dollars does not mean that banking relations between Cuba and
the United States have normalized. Cuban banks are still not allowed to open
correspondent accounts in US banks, and therefore our operations will
necessarily continue to be done through third parties, which increases
operational costs as well as the amount of related procedures.
None of
the other measures entered into force modify the implementation of fundamental
aspects of the blockade. For example:
•
Investments other than those approved in our country’s telecom sector are not
allowed.
•
The US ban on Cuban imports is still in force, and these include
pharmaceuticals and biotech products. Thus, the limited authorized bilateral
trade continues to be essentially a one-way trade. Only the absurd prohibition
preventing US citizens from consuming and receiving Cuban products and services
in third countries was modified.
•
Current restrictions on US exports to Cuba, which are limited and exclude key
sectors of the Cuban economy, have not been modified.
•
Ships carrying goods to Cuba are still not allowed to touch US ports for a
period of 180 days, thus increasing freight charges. The only measure adopted
in this area was not meant to benefit Cuba, but rather to make US shipping
companies operations profitable.
•
Cuban as well as other countries’ individuals and companies are still
arbitrarily listed as “specially designated nationals”, and for that reason
they are prevented from doing transactions with US entities or their
subsidiaries.
All of
these restrictions could be eliminated by means of executive decisions.
The truth
is that the blockade is still in force. Jack Lew, the Secretary of the
Treasury, has himself recognized, two days ago, that the blockade still
restricts, in a very, very significant way, the volume of transactions between
Cuba and the United States.
The
blockade also has dissuasive as well as punitive components. Here there are
some examples:
•
US and foreign companies have been fined recently for providing services and
equipment of US origin to Cuba.
•
Foreign companies trading with Cuban nickel and rum have seen
their lines of credit cancelled and their bank transfers rejected, even if they
were denominated in currencies other than the US dollar.
•
Foreign banks have closed down the bank accounts in currencies other than the
US dollar maintained by the Cuban medical staff offering their cooperation in
African countries.
•
US subsidiaries based in third countries have refused to provide their services
to Cuban diplomatic missions and entities abroad.
The
blockade is the most important obstacle to Cuba’s economic development and
causes hardships to the Cuban people.
Therefore,
lifting the blockade will be essential for normalizing relations between our
two countries.
Senior
officials of the US have stated that the purpose of the approved measures is
“to empower” the Cuban people. If the US Government is really interested in
helping the Cuban people, then the blockade should be lifted.
We
recognize the position adopted by President Obama against the blockade and his
repeated appeals to Congress urging it to lift it.
We expect
the US Congress to act accordingly in the face of an almost unanimous claim of
the international community and ever broader sectors of the US society and
public opinion.
Cuba has
engaged in the construction of a new relation with the United States, in the
full exercise of its sovereignty and committed to its ideals of social justice
and solidarity.
No one
should expect that, in order to achieve that, Cuba will renounce anyone of its
principles or its foreign policy, which is committed to the just causes all
over the world and the defense of peoples’ self-determination.
Within a
few days we will be welcoming the US President with our distinctive hospitality
as well as with the respect and consideration he deserves in his condition as
Head of State.
It will be
an opportunity for him to know about our reality and meet a noble, proud and
patriotic people struggling for a better future against all odds.
The US
President will be able to see a nation that is involved in its economic and
social development and the improvement of the wellbeing of its citizens, who
enjoy rights and are able to show some achievements that are still a chimera
for many countries of the world, despite our condition as a blockaded and
underdeveloped country.
It will
also be an important occasion to identify what new steps could be taken in the
next few months to contribute to the process of improvement of relations, on
the basis of respect and equality, for the benefit of both countries and
peoples.
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