By Charles F. Moreira
On 17th April 2019, United States’ National Security Advisor John Bolton officially announced the decision to enforce Title III of the Helms-Burton Act and to implement other measures against Cuba at a function with the Bay of Pigs Veterans Association in Miami, Florida.
Bolton also announced that the re-tightening of travel restrictions to Cuba which were eased by the Obama administrations, to now only allow family travel to Cuba. Also fund remitted to individuals in Cuba are restricted to U.S.$1,000 every three months.
He also described measures which the U.S. intended to take against Venezuela and Nicaragua, both countries, which together with Cuba, had adopted and practice socio-economic-political policies independent of and contrary to U.S. imperialist dictates in Latin America.
Readers can watch Burton’s speech on the China Global Television Network (CGTN) America You Tube channel below:-
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was a failed military invasion of Cuba undertaken by a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)-sponsored rebel group Brigade 2506 on 17 April 1961.
The counter-revolutionary military group comprised mostly of Cuban exiles who had traveled to the United States after Castro's takeover, plus some U.S. military personnel. Trained and funded by the CIA, Brigade 2506 fronted the armed wing of the Democratic Revolutionary Front (DRF) and intended to overthrow the increasingly communist government of Fidel Castro.
Launched from Guatemala and Nicaragua, the invading force was defeated within three days by the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, under the direct command of Castro.
This move announced by Bolton, follows upon U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of a "better deal" for Cubans and Americans in Miami on 16th June 2017, where he said that his administration would enforce the tourism ban and embargo. At the same time, Trump announced that he was "cancelling" his predecessor, President Obama’s opening up of regular relations with Cuba, and that he would reestablish trade and travel embargoes against the island nation.
These measures further intensify the United States’ ongoing commercial, economic, and financial embargo against Cuba for close to 60 years.
“The main purpose of these new measures by the U.S. is to intensify its blockade against Cuba since 1961, so as to suffocate the Cuban people in the hope that the financial and economic hardships forced upon them will cause them to revolt and overthrow the Cuban government”, Her Excellency Ibete Fernandez Hernandez, Cuba’s Ambassador to Malaysia told members of the Malaysian media at her residence in Kuala Lumpur on 16th May 2019.
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| Her Excellency Ibete Fernandez Hernandez, Ambassador of Cuba to Malaysia (green blouse right), briefing journalists from several Malaysian media and Mr. Tan Choon Hok, Executive Secretary of the Malaysia-China Friendship Association. |
“These measures put into practice the memorandum by Secretary of State Christian Herter, who in 1960 said that there was no effective opposition in Cuba and one way to get the people to overthrow the government is to create disappointment and hardship for the people by employing all possible means to weaken Cuba’s economy by denying her access to money and supplies to create hunger and despair so that the people will rise up and overthrow the government.
“Also, the U.S. has been spreading lies that Cuba has 20,000 troops in Venezuela, plus more troops on the border with Colombia. Yes there are Cubans in Venezuela, mostly doctors and medical personnel who are helping Venezuela provide medical services.
“These lies reprsent an increase of U.S. aggression against Cuba”, Her Excellency added.
Well, the New York Times of 1 May 2019 reported that whilst Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have consistently criticised Cuba for its support for the Venezuelan government, however a former C.I.A. official concluded that Cuba is far less involved and its support has been far less important than senior officials in the administration believe.
“On April 27th, Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs revealed that the U.S. had sent a memo to all U.S. embassies worldwide, telling them to intensify their pressure on Cuba”, the Ambassador said.
“Also, Bolton said that the U.S. can invoke the Monroe Doctrine to interfere in Venezuela and Cuba,”, Her Excellency added.
The Monroe Doctrine
Let’s take a closer look at the Monroe Doctrine. According to Wikipedia, the Monroe Doctrine, issued on 2 December 1823, was a United States policy of opposing further European colonisation in the Americas, at a time when nearly all Latin American colonies had gained or were about to gain independence from the Portuguese and Spanish empires, and it regarded further efforts by European nations to take control of any independent state in North or South America, as acts of hostility towards the United States.
At the time, many Latin American countries welcomed it, viewing the U.S. as their “big brother” and protector, though being militarily weak at the time compared to the established European powers, at times, the “big brother protector” did not protest or take action against some European powers which recolonised some Latin American countries.
When the Cuban Revolution (1953–1959) established a Communist government with ties to the Soviet Union, it was argued that the Monroe Doctrine should be invoked to prevent the spread of Soviet-backed Communism in Latin America, and under this rationale, the U.S. provided intelligence and military aid to Latin and South American governments that claimed or appeared to be threatened by Communist subversion (as in the case of Operation Condor).
In the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, President John F. Kennedy cited the Monroe Doctrine as grounds for America's confrontation with the Soviet Union over the installation of Soviet ballistic missiles on Cuban soil.
However, as the United States grew in military power to become the world’s most powerful today, the Monroe Doctrine has become a means by which the United States exerts her hegemony over the Western Hemisphere.
Historians have observed that whilst the Doctrine contained a commitment to resist colonialism from Europe, it had some aggressive implications for American policy, since there were no limitations on the US's own actions mentioned within it.
Scholar Jay Sexton notes that the tactics used to implement the doctrine were modeled after those employed by British imperialists, and their competition with the Spanish and French.
Eminent historian William Appleman Williams described it as a form of "imperial anti-colonialism, whilst Noam Chomsky argues that in practice the Monroe Doctrine has been used as a declaration of hegemony and a right of unilateral intervention over the Americas.
The Helms-Burton Act
Now let’s turn to the Helms-Burton Act. Officially known as the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (Libertad) Act of 1996 and signed into law by then U.S. President William Clinton of 12th of March 1996, the Helms-Burton Act comprises four “Titles”, namely:-
TITLE I--STRENGTHENING INTERNATIONAL SANCTIONS AGAINST THE CASTRO GOVERNMENT
The following sections under Title I reveal the U.S. intent to bully Cuba and her people into submission.
Section. 102. Enforcement of the economic embargo of Cuba.
Section. 103. Prohibition against indirect financing of Cuba.
Section. 104. United States opposition to Cuban membership in international financial institutions.
Section. 105. United States opposition to termination of the suspension of the Cuban Government from participation in the Organization of American States.
Section. 106. Assistance by the independent states of the former Soviet Union for the Cuban Government.
Section. 108. Reports on commerce with, and assistance to, Cuba from other foreign countries.
Section. 110. Importation safeguard against certain Cuban products.
Section. 111. Withholding of foreign assistance from countries supporting Juragua nuclear plant in Cuba.
The above sections clearly aim to intentionally strengthen the application of the blockade and economic sanctions against Cuba.
TITLE II--ASSISTANCE TO A FREE AND INDEPENDENT CUBA
Section. 201. Policy toward a transition government and a democratically elected government in Cuba.
Section. 202. Assistance for the Cuban people.
Section. 203. Coordination of assistance program; implementation and reports to Congress; reprogramming.
Section. 204. Termination of the economic embargo of Cuba.
Section. 205. Requirements and factors for determining a transition government.
Section. 206. Requirements for determining a democratically elected government.
Section . 207. Settlement of outstanding United States claims to confiscated property in Cuba.
The above clearly shows that the United States is only interested in an “independent” Cuba and a “free” Cuban people on its terms and basically aims to establish a sort of political ‘transition’ plan in Cuba through U.S. intervention in her and her people’s internal affairs.
Section 202. “Assistance to the Cuban” people is a sick joke, when the United States is “assist” the Cuban people by imposing a crippling blockade in the hope of starving them into submission.
TITLE III--PROTECTION OF PROPERTY RIGHTS OF UNITED STATES NATIONALS
More particular under Title III are:-
Section. 302. Liability for trafficking in confiscated property claimed by United States nationals.
Section. 303. Proof of ownership of claims to confiscated property.
Section. 304. Exclusivity of Foreign Claims Settlement Commission certification procedure.
These three sections basically allow American citizens, especially Cuban Americans, whether or not U.S. citizens at the time, to sue in U.S. courts, the Cuban government, companies or organisations for properties and assets nationalised following the Cuban Revolution. These include public facilities, public infrastructure, farms, industries, mines, hotels, buildings, ports, lands and so forth being made use of by Cuban government, Cuban or foreign private entities, which provide the energy potential and the basis upon which science and technology is developed and services provided to the population.
For instance, if the Malaysian government or company has a project in Cuba which a U.S. citizen claims involves their property or asset, they can sue in the U.S. to demand it back.
After the Cuban government had nationalised foreign holdings in Cuba after the revolution, it negotiated compensation agreements with them but the U.S. refused, believing that Cuba’s revolution would fail they would be able to come back after three months but that did not happen and after 60 years and the U.S. is now using the blockade and especially Title III to hit back at Cuba.
Since Title III came into effect on 2 May 2019, two legal suits have been files in U.S. courts.
In one case, a Canadian company was accused of bringing tourists to the Port of Havana which had belonged to a family, whilst the other involves a claim that an oilrefinery belongs to the U.S. oil giant Exxon.
TITLE IV--EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN ALIENS
Section. 401. Exclusion from the United States of aliens who have confiscated property of United States nationals or who traffic in (own, do business with) such property.
Title IV basically prohibits the entry into the United States of executives and their families and of the owners of entities ‘trafficking’ with such nationalised or expropriated holdings.
Whilst the Helms-Burton Act had been in force since 1996, however Title III has been repeatedly suspended for six-month periods due to opposition from other countries, since it violates their sovereign right to trade with Cuba but now the Trump andministration has decided to enforce it and has come up against opposition.
For instance, according to the AP Archive You Tube channel, on 24 Apr 2019, Alberto Navarro, European Union Ambassador to Cuba said that the European Union will vigorously defend European companies doing business in Cuba against new Trump administration sanctions in court and before the World Trade Organization, rejecting the possibility European business will stop investing in Cuba.
"I think I have said with great clarity, any country can adopt whatever legislation it wants, and apply the law within its own country, we can criticise it whether we like it or not. What that country cannot do, is impose its legislation on others, and that's what the so-called Title 3 of the Helms-Burton does, and that is completely contrary to international norms, and is illegal, and is something the European Union has systematically criticised since it was imposed in 1996," Ambassador Navarro said in an interview at the EU Embassy in Havana. He added that the EU will contest any sanctions against European businesses operating in Cuba at the WTO and in European courts.
Navarro added that the EU has become Cuba's largest trading partner, with some 2.6 billion euro's in trade and 2.2 in exports between the EU and Cuba annually with the island, and will defend its interests, rejecting Trump Administration threats to sanction European companies for doing business with the Cuban Government.
"We are the number one investor in Cuba and obviously have legitimate interests in Cuba and we want to defend them and protect our citizens and our investors", Navarro said, pledging the EU will mount legal challenges to the US sanctions.
He also said other countries with business interests on the island, like Canada, which has long-term investments in Cuba's energy and mining sectors, will also oppose the Trump Administration plans to punish companies who do business with the island.
Meanwhile, after the enforcement of Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, two companies, including a hospitality company from Canada have said that they will continued to invest in Cuba.
Besides Canada, other countries which oppose these U.S. sanctions include Spain, whilst Russia and China have continued to trade with Cuba.
The U.S. initially imposed an embargo on the sale of arms to Cuba on 14th March 1958, when the island was under rule of the Fulgecino Batista regime.
Then on 19th October 1960s, almost two years after the Cuban Revolution led by Fidel Castro overthrew the Batista regime, the U.S. imposed an embargo on all exports to Cuba apart from food and medicines, following Cuba’s nationalisation of American-owned Cuban oil refieries, then on 7th February 1962, after the Cuban missile crisis, the U.S. extended the embargo to include almost all exports.
Worldwide reach
If this U.S. embargo, or blockade as it’s known in Cuba, was just between the U.S. and Cuba, it would not be so hard on the Cuban people but as I wrote in my earlier post on the blockade on 16th May 2017, the blockade also affects trade between Cuba and third countries including Malaysia as well.
To recap, the risk of heavy fines by the U.S. has deterred many non-U.S. banks opening accounts for Cuban companies and handling trade-related financial transactions with Cuba, even in non-U.S. currencies.
The list is too long to practically list all of them here but some examples of penalties, blocked or refused transactions since 17th December 2014 include the following:-
On 6th August 2016, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) levied a fine of U.S.$ 271,815 on U.S. maritime insurance company - Navigators Insurance Company for violating the embargo by paying U.S.$21,736 in interest for a Cuban national.
On 18th and 23rd September 2015, an Australian bank refused to make two transfers in Australian dollars to the Cubatur travel agency for for payment of services for a group of 19 travelling to Cuba.
In November 2015, the U.S.-based PayPal online financial payments company blocked the account of German company Proticket, used by its customers to pay for tickets for the musical comedy Soy Cubano and a concert by Cuban singer Addys Mercedes on grounds that it violated the U.S. embargo.
Proticket sued PayPal and on 19 April 2016 the court in Dormund, Germany ruled against PayPal, forcing it to unblock Proticket's account, failing which PayPal had to pay Proticket 250,000 euros compensation.
On 12th February 2016 a branch of Standard Chartered Bank in Uganda informed Cuban doctors working at Mbarara University that they had until 15th February to withdraw their money from their accounts with the bank, since as Cubans they were not allowed to have accounts with the bank. The doctors tried to open an account with the British Barclays Bank but after doing so were informed that they could not make transactions to or from Cuba.
On 18th March 2016, it became known that Japanese bank Mitsui Sumitomo SMBC Trust refused a funds transfer by a Japanese citizen to pay for a tourist card fom the Cuban consulate in Japan.
On 3rd May 2016, it became known that funds collected by the Asociacion de Cubanos in the United Kingdom had been retained by the bank of U.S. company Eventbrite because it had sold tickets for a classic music concert organised by the Association whose funds would go towards the purchase and donation of a piano for the Amadeo Roldan Music Conservatory in Cuba.
Cuba is developing her petroleum industry and on 25th February 2016, OFAC fined CGG Services S. A. of France U.S.$614,250 for having supplied spare parts and equipment originating from the U.S. for gas and oil exploration to ships operating in Cuban territorial waters. Furthermore, the Venezuelan subsidiary of CGG Services S.A. had carried out five transactions related the processing of information for seismic research conducted by a Cuban entity in Cuba's Exclusive Economic Zone.
In Malaysia, a Malaysian bank initially refused to open an account for the Cuban Embassy but Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry said that the bank could not deny the Embassy an account since U.S. laws do not apply in Malaysia and the Embassy was allowed to open an account. However, ordinary Cuban nationals resident in Malaysia and even married to a Malaysian were denied opening an account by the bank.
A major aspect of the embargo which seriously affects Cuba's foreign trade is the prohibition of ships from docking at U.S. ports within 180 days of having docked at a Cuban port, and this has been a major deterrent to ships docking in Cuba to deliver or take on cargo, since it is not cost effective for a ship to carry only one set of cargo types for Cuba, since they will also carry cargo for other destinations in the region, including the United States.
This forces Cuba to resort on trans-shipment through neighbouring countries, which introduces delays and adds to cost. Since 1960, the embargo has cost Cuba the equivalent of close to U.S.$125.9 trillion and between March 2015 and March 2016, it has cost Cuba U.S.$4.68 million.
No direct trade right now
As of today, Malaysia does on have direct trade with Cuba, possibly due to fears that funds transferred through the banking system could be blocked.
“However, a solution around this is barter trade, where Cuba can supply Malaysia with a quantity of vaccines in return for a certain qualtity of condensed milk from Malaysia”, said the Ambassador.
However, she has not yet brought this proposal up with the Malaysian government.
Malaysia used to have a contract with DNA Bioscience in Cuba to buy vaccines for children against Hepatitis B but that contract ended in 2017 but was not renewed.
A problem Cuba’s pharmaceutical industry faces is that Malaysia’s National Pharamaceutical Regulatory Agency is a member of the Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation Scheme (PIC/S), established in 1995 as an extension to the Pharmaceutical Inspection Convention (PIC) of 1970, but Cuba is not.
So before Malaysia can import pharmaceuticals from a Cuban or other non_PIC/S pharmaceutical production facility,, a team needs to be sent Cuba to inspect and the production and operation of supplier to verify that they meet PIC/S standards.
Food rationing
As for now, the intensified U.S. blockade against Cuba has reduced the amount of food and neccesities, which Cuba can import, so Cuba has introduced rationing to ensure that everyone can still get food and other essentials.
Recent rationed items include eggs, toothpaste, chicken, beef, soap, lentils and rice though these can change from month to month, depending upon availability.
For instance, a restaurant which normally buys a bag of rice may now only be allowed half a bag, whilst someone who buys 10 bars of soap may only be allowed to but five. Rationing is also a mean to prevent hoarding.
UN General Assembly
Cuba has consistently had the support of the vast majority of countries in the United Nations General Assembly each year, for the end of the U.S. embargo.
For instance, in 2018, a total of 189 U.N. member states, including Malaysia, voted to end the embargo, whilst only the United States and Israel voted against.
However, the vote of the U.N. General Assembly is non-binding, since it’s the UN Security Council which calls the shots in the U.N., though the General Assembly vote has has moral value.
Meanwhile, Cuba continues to welcome the solidarity shown her by individuals, organisations and countries who oppose these continuing U.S. sanctions against Cuba.
Not a pushover
“The U.S. uses lies when it cannot accept that Cuba made a revolution right before their faces, so it aims to internationalise the blockade” sald the Ambassador.
“However, Cuba will resist and in 1966, Cuba made a resolution to declare the Helms-Burton Act as illigitimate.
“Also, the U.S. must realise that despite whatever domestic problems we genuinely have, however the Cuban people resent outsiders interfering in our internal affairs and our right to exist as an independent, sovereign country”, she added.
U.S. - backed coups which failed
Cuba can take comfort from the fact that despite the U.S. imperialists have been trying to instigate and support internal opponents in Venezuela to overthrow the democratically elected government of Venezuela by proxy since the time of Venezuela’s late President Hugo Chavez and now with Juan Guaidó, President of the National Assembly, which the United States and 53 other governments recognised as acting President of Venezuela against legitimately elected President Maduro, however Guaidó has not been accepted by the majority of the Venezuelan people and most of the people who remain loyal to President Maduro, fully aware that the hardships they are suffering right now are due to U.S. imperialist interference and manipulation in their economy and internal affairs.
The Venezuela government also organised their supporters and loyalists into an armed citizen’s militia, which can be called upon to defend their interests against the privileged elite in Venezuela which look towards the United States.
You can watch Caleb Maupin’s You Tube video over here:-
Also, whilst contrary to U.S. lies about 20,000 Cuban troops being in Venezuela, Russia is believed to have some military personnel, such as trainers on the ground, whilst Russia also has interests in Venezuela and China backs Venezuella, so if the U.S. attacks or invades Venezuela militarily, it risks confrontation with Russia or China, so Venezuela won’t be an easy walkover for the U.S., unlike Afghanistan or Iraq.
Below are two You Tube videos about the recent coup attempts in Venezuela,which have failed.
Despite 60 years of blockade, Cuba has not succumbed to United States imperialist and hegemonic dictates and I’m pretty confident that with growing dislike for United States imperialism, globalisation and neo-liberalism, Cuba will prevail.
Viva La Cuba!
Venceremos!
Qui Estis Nil, Omnia Fite
