Despite President Barack Obama’s commitment to end to the 50-plus years blockade, Cuba says the policy still remains in force and continues to cause severe damage to the country’s economy and development.
To this end, Cuban Ambassador to Guyana, Julio Marchante, at a press conference on Thursday said his country is looking forward to the support of the international community as it once again presents a resolution at the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly next week, with the aim of completely removing the United States’ embargo.
In October last year, the international community demonstrated its overwhelming rejection of the policy, supporting Cuba’s resolution calling for its immediate end by a vote of 191 in favour.
The resolution, titled “Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba”, will be presented to the UN for the 25th consecutive year.
The 2016 Draft Resolution reflects the current status of bilateral relations between Cuba and the US; reiterates Cuba’s appreciation of the restoration of diplomatic relations and President Obama’s expression of willingness to work towards the lifting of the blockade, which was reaffirmed during his historic visit to Cuba earlier this year.
Ambassador Marchante noted that the role of the international community is essential in having the sanctions against Cuba removed. On this note, he recognised Guyana’s support over the years in its effort
“Cuba reiterates its gratitude for the permanent support of Guyana to the demand by the Cuban people for an end to this illegal, genocidal and extraterritorial policy, which will never prevent the Cuban people from defending its sovereignty and its unfettered right to choose its own future,” he remarked.
The Ambassador went on to mention President David Granger’s speech at this year’s UN General Assembly, where he lobbied for the removal of the blockade.
“I wish, also, to iterate Guyana’s continued support, within the context of the preservation of sovereignty and its inextricable link with sustainable development, for the complete removal of the commercial, economic, and financial blockade imposed by the United States against another Caribbean country – the Republic of Cuba. We cannot commit to policies to transform our economies to provide development for our peoples and not demonstrate the political will to change systems that are in direct contradiction to these policies,” President Granger had stated during his address to the assembly in September.
According to Ambassador Marchante, the measures taken by the White House thus far to remove the blockade are not enough, as they have had a limited impact and constitute a basic obstacle to the process aimed at normalising relations between the two countries.
“Despite the restoring of Cuban-US diplomatic relations, the reopening of embassies over a year ago, and President Barack Obama’s visit to Cuba in March 2016; the US economic, commercial and financial sanctions against Cuba remain in force, as do the laws that support them while the restrictions they generate continue to be applied,” he highlighted.
In this regard, he mentioned the continuous ban of trade and direct banking relations; his country is still banned from opening correspondent accounts in US banks and has been unable to make either deposits or payments in cash in US dollars in third countries, while the US is still blocking transfers of funds and withholding payments, as foreign banks with links to Cuba continue to be fined.
He cited two recent cases: one, whereby the German Commerzbank ceased operations with Cuba following a fine of US$1,710 million imposed by the US in March 2015; and two, in August this year, two correspondent banks – Commerzbank and the Belgian KBC Bank – refused to action a credit transfer of €12,527,945 ordered by the Bank of Algeria as payment for Cuban medical services in Algeria.
Additionally, Marchante went on that his country has been incurring millions of dollars in losses as a result of the 50-year blockade, noting that currently the cumulative cost of the blockade to the Cuban people totals some $125,873,000,000. He added too that between March 2015 and March 2016, the cost to Cuba of the sanctions amounted to $4,680,300,000 at current prices.
On this note, the Cuban Ambassador posited that the US President has the executive powers to ensure the complete removal of the blockade without any conditions: “The President of the United States still possesses wide executive powers, which he has not used, to continue modifying the application of the blockade regulations beyond what has already been done to date. These would enable him, if used decisively, to virtually dismantle the blockade policy.” He recognized however that elimination of the blockade requires a decision by Congress.
Ambassador Marchante concluded that the blockade against Cuba must be removed unilaterally and unconditionally, calling it the most unjust, severe and prolonged system of sanctions ever imposed on any country, which remains a flagrant, massive and systematic violation of the human rights of the Cuban people.
