End the U.S. blockade against Cuba!

End the U.S. blockade against Cuba!

from http://www.granma.cu/documento/ingles02/063-i.html

CUBA’S REPORT TO THE U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL ON GENERAL ASSEMBLY
RESOLUTION 56/9
"Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial blockade
imposed by the United States of America against Cuba."

INTRODUCTION

The Cuban people continue to be victimized by the genocidal blockade
imposed by the Government of the United States of America in an effort
to break the Cuban resolve to exercise self-determination and its
willingness to preserve its independence, social justice and equality.
For over 42 years, successive US Administrations have not hesitated in
their attempt to cause hunger and disease among the Cuban people, as a
means to try and defeat the Cuban spirit of resistance to US aggression
and annexation.

The policy of blockade has inflicted and continues to inflict serious
and onerous damages on the Cuban people's material, psychological and
spiritual welfare, while hindering its economic and social development.
The US blockade has forced consecutive generations of Cubans to live
under a climate of permanent hostility and tension. Six in every ten
Cubans have been born and have lived under the conditions imposed by
this policy.

The U.S. economic war against Cuba has no legal basis whatsoever and,
in conformity with Item C of Article II of the Geneva Convention for
the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, of 9 December
1948, it is considered an act of genocide and therefore a crime under
International Law.

The economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed on Cuba by the
most powerful country in the history of humankind is not only still in
place, but it has also been strengthened by a decision of the present
Bush Administration, which has made the anti-Cuba rhetoric and its
strong commitment with the Miami-based, extremist groups, the
cornerstone of its policy towards Cuba, seeking electoral gains for the
President himself and his family.

In a recent statement made at the White House last 20 May 2002, on the
occasion of commemorating the 100th anniversary of the U.S.-imposed
neo-colonial regime on Cuba, President Bush openly said, "the United
States will continue to enforce the economic sanctions against Cuba."
[1]

If anyone still harbored any doubts about the continuity in the
implementation and the reinforcement of the U.S. policy of blockade
against the Cuban people, President Bush's remarks, which he repeated
in Miami that same day, provide the clearest possible answer.

It is in light of these circumstances that the 57th Session of the U.N.
General Assembly shall once again consider this item of its agenda,
after 10 years of the first resolution adopted by body demanding that
the U.S. Government puts an end to the economic, commercial and
financial blockade against the Cuban people. In this regard, it would
be appropriate to ask ourselves:

How was it possible to devise throughout these years such a meticulous
and infernal system to prevent a whole people from having access to
staple food and medicines produced in the world's main market, also
bearing in mind that some of them are unique and cannot be supplied at
any price by any other suppliers?

How could it be allowed that a people continues to be denied access to
technologies and spare parts, to critical medical equipment and
scientific literature essential for the full realization of the human
right to healthcare?

How could anyone justify these practices, not only under universal
standards of human rights and International Humanitarian Law, but also
in light of the principles of economic and trade liberalization
promoted by industrialized countries, including the United States, in
the context of the ongoing process of globalization?

Throughout the present Report, an attempt will be made to answer these
questions and the General Assembly should derive its own conclusions
from the information provided herein.

1.- ESTABLISHMENT, CONSOLIDATION AND STRENGTHENING OF THE U.S. BLOCKADE
AGAINST CUBA

The last 200 years have presented Cuba with formidable challenges,
particularly arising from the dangers historically represented by the
attempts of annexation and domination of Cuba by the most conservative
power sectors in the United States. A quick glance at history would
suffice to find enough evidence of the true intentions guiding the U.S.
policy towards this small Caribbean island. The United States has
spared no resources in its hegemonic plans, particularly after the
triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959.

The policy of implementing economic sanctions has been a fundamental
element of U.S. hostility against Cuba. The decision to cause hunger,
disease and desperation to the Cuban people as tools to reach their
goals of political domination has not only been maintained, but it has
also been reinforced in the last 40 years.

Cuba has been subjected to a brutal policy of hostility and aggression
of all kinds by the superpower, whose strategic purpose has been none
other than the annihilation of the Cuban Revolution and the destruction
of the political, economic and social system established, sustained and
permanently perfected by the free will of its people.

In order to accomplish their purpose, successive U.S. Administrations
since 1959 have resorted to all kinds of political pressure; attempts
at diplomatic isolation; propaganda war; encouragement of defections
and illegal emigration; espionage; economic warfare and aggressions of
all sorts, including subversion, terrorism and acts of sabotage,
biological warfare, fomenting armed bands, criminal infiltration and
raids against the Cuban territory, military harassment, threats of
nuclear extermination and even direct aggression using a mercenary
army.

Not a single economic or social activity has been exempted from the
destructive and destabilizing action resulting from the aggressive U.S.
policy. Conservative figures show that the sum of the damages sustained
by Cuba as a consequence of the implementation of this genocidal policy
already exceeds U.S. $70 billion. These figure does not include over
U.S. $54 billion reported as direct damages caused to Cuban economic
and social objectives in the last four decades by acts of sabotage and
terrorism carried out by agents at the service of the United States,
tolerated by that country or organized and financed in its territory.

As it has been denounced in previous reports, in 1992 the difficulties
faced by the Cuban economy worsened as a result of the rupture of ties
with its former trading partners from the demised Soviet Union and
Eastern Europe. It is in the midst of these circumstances that the
so-called Torricelli Act is adopted with the purpose of totally
isolating Cuba from the international environment and causing its
economy to collapse. The provisions contained in that piece of
legislation, of a profound extraterritorial nature, constitute a
flagrant violation of the international norms governing freedom of
trade and navigation, and reflect U.S. scorn and disrespect for the
sovereignty of third States.

In 1996, not yet satisfied for not having accomplished the collapse of
the Cuban political and economic system with the passing of the
Torricelli Act, the U.S. Government further escalated its hostile and
aggressive actions against the Cuban people. The Helms-Burton Act is
enacted that year, incorporating the key programs and policies that the
U.S. far right and the Cuban-American terrorist mafia had been
advocating against the Cuban people and its emancipation project.

The Helms-Burton Act, interventionist in nature and in its letter,
intends to dictate in its Titles I and II the political, economic and
social ordering of a sovereign neighboring State, Cuba, while promoting
subversion as a means to achieve its goals. Titles III and IV attempt
to internationalize the U.S. blockade imposing rules and regulations on
the international community as to how to conduct its economic relations
with the Cuban nation and requiring sanctions against citizens of other
States for doing business with Cuba.

These laws and regulations that affect our country, and in addition
extend their scope against the international community at large, have
been complemented with further provisions and measures aimed at making
the blockade more stringent. Among the more recent actions, attention
must be drawn to the implementation of new control and monitoring
mechanisms for its more effective enforcement.

The coming to power of President George W. Bush's Administration has
meant an increase of the anti-Cuba rhetoric and a greater commitment
with the Cuban-American National Foundation and other extremist
organizations in Florida, whose terrorist and annexation acts are well
known. This has brought about a toughening of the U.S. policy of
blockade against the Cuban people.

The current U.S. Administration has committed itself to the most
rigorous enforcement of the blockade regulations, in particular of the
Helms-Burton Act, both in its economic and political aspects. The
economic sanctions and restrictions have been accompanied by new
initiatives for the promotion, organization and financing of internal
subversion in Cuba making use of the U.S. Interest Section in Havana,
of the resources of the U.S. Agency for International Development
(USAID) and other official funding, and of resources provided by the
Administration to organizations which, as Freedom House, promote
subversion and intervention in the territory of the Republic of Cuba.
This year, the Government of President W. Bush has even publicly
announced the granting of federal funds to finance projects of internal
subversion in Cuba, making available millions of dollars for every
project submitted.

One of the most noteworthy aspects of the anti-Cuba actions of
President W. Bush's administration has been the issue of travel
restrictions, through the reinforcement of sanctions and threats
against U.S. citizens wishing to travel to Cuba. These actions have
increased in the last 18 months, when the U.S. Government has taken to
court and imposed civil penalties on a growing number of U.S. citizens.
Suffice it to say that if in a four-month period -- from 3 January to 3
May 2001 -- the Department of the Treasury sent 74 letters to U.S.
citizens who visited Cuba without a license, imposing on average $7,500
civil penalties, while in the following three months -- from 4 May to
31 July 2001 -- that Department sent 443 such letters.

The case of Mr. Cevin Allen, a U.S. citizen who has been a victim of
the sanctions imposed by the U.S. Government for traveling to Cuba,
constitutes a single example. Last year, the aforementioned citizen
appeared in a U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee hearing to make his
case known. Due to the unheard of and inhumane circumstances associated
with this case, several of its details are presented below:

Resident in Sammamish, Washington, Mr. Allen lived in Cuba between 1948
and 1955 with his parents, who were missionaries of the Pentecostal
Church. They maintained close connections with the Island after
returning to the United States. In 1987, an unfortunate house fire
killed both his parents. Back then, Mr. Allen promised himself to take
their ashes to Cuba, the place they had always loved. He could only
fulfill his promise after 10 years. Upon his return, Mr. Allen and his
partner were imposed a $7,500 civil penalty each, which was reduced to
$700 after an intense legal battle. [2]

President George W. Bush, as part of his drive to escalate his
anti-Cuban activity, has appointed and promoted officials of Cuban
descent, some of them even having terrorist backgrounds, to key posts
in his Cabinet or in the State Department. These officials are active
members of or are closely related to the Cuban-American National
Foundation and to other far right, Florida-based organizations, whose
terrorist nature has been sufficiently denounced and demonstrated.

In the last few years, the U.S. Government has intended to mislead the
international public opinion with an alleged ease of the blockade
regulations allowing, as claimed, the sales of food and medicines to
Cuba. However, as we have indicated in previous Reports to the
Secretary General, the restrictions imposed on such Cuban purchases,
and the conditions attached thereto, have prevented and continue to
prevent them, in site of a Cuban willingness to carry out those
purchases and the interest by US producers to sell their products.

Late last year, in the aftermath of the most devastating hurricane that
has ever hit Cuba, in a gesture described as kind by the Cuban
authorities, the U.S. Administration did not raise objections to the
sale of certain amounts of food to our country, purchased to replenish
the reserves used to respond to the needs of the victims of Hurricane
Michelle.

This isolated event triggered the false expectation in several quarters
-- including the U.S. business sector -- that a favorable path to a
less confrontational US policy towards Cuba had been taken. However,
the fact is that those purchases had to be made under strict Department
of Treasury license-issuing procedures, in cash and without any
financing facilities whatsoever, private or otherwise; while at the
same time, the transportation of those products could only be done
aboard U.S. or third country vessels, excepting Cuba. So, even then,
the countless restrictions imposed by the blockade were kept. Likewise,
last April, the US Government unilaterally cancelled the visas of Cuban
businessmen negotiating new purchases with U.S. companies that had made
sales to Cuba in recent months and with other interested firms.


see http://www.granma.cu/documento/ingles02/063-i.html for parts II and
III