U.N. demands end to Cuba blockade - for the 15th time
Fri, 2006-11-10 21:28
#1
U.N. demands end to Cuba blockade - for the 15th time
Fri, 2006-11-10 21:28
#2
[url=http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2006/noviembre/juev9/46votacion.html]UN condemns U.S. blockade against Cuba[/url]
quote:
On November 8, the United Nations General Assembly, for the 15th consecutive time and by overwhelming majority, passed a resolution condemning the U.S. blockade against Cuba and demanding that it be lifted.The resolution obtained the support of one more country than last year, with 183 votes for, 4 against – [b]the United States, Israel, Palau and the Marshall Islands[/b] – and one abstention, Micronesia.
Oh, and the sovereign state of Iraq was "absent" for the vote. In more ways than one.
What a shame that Israel continues to associate itself with gangsterism, both in its own policies and internationally.
Fri, 2006-11-10 21:44
#3
quote:
On this occasion, Havana charged that “sanctions against citizens and enterprises have been intensified, with a special emphasis on travel agencies, which were subject to audits and sanctions.”“Pressure has also been intensified against religious, academic and non-governmental organizations in the United States with the aim of preventing the development of ties and exchange with their counterparts in Cuba.”
I think they've become their cold war nemesis, the USSA.
[ 10 November 2006: Message edited by: Fidel ]
Fri, 2006-11-10 22:01
#4
Increasingly the blockade is losing it's grip:
quote:
These are prosperous times for the economy of the Cuba, and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez does indeed have a lot to do with it. Gross domestic product grew at 12 per cent last year, according to Cuba's Economy and Planning Ministry, the fastest rate since President Fidel Castro took power in 1959.Though reliable data on the Cuban economy is hard to come by, and government figures are often outdated and impossible to confirm, anecdotal evidence backs up the Cuban claims.
"The Cuban economy is doing okay," says Wayne Smith, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy in Washington who spent 25 years as a U.S. diplomat focusing on Cuba. "I see it moving forward. I see important improvements." He last visited Cuba in September.
The government says foreign investment was up 39 per cent in 2005 and tourism is booming: A record 2Ѕ million visitors will fly into Cuba in 2006 from Europe and other Latin American nations.
Even as Mr. Castro, 80, lay in a hospital suffering from an unidentified intestinal ailment that required surgery, the economic good news kept pouring in. Gross domestic product, which was $58-billion in 2005, grew another 12.5 per cent in the first six months of 2006, Mr. Rodriguez said in a Sept. 12 press conference.
"All the indications are that the Cuban economy is stronger than it has been at any point since the end of the Cold War," says Robert Muse, a Washington-based attorney who specializes in international trade and the U.S. embargo of Cuba. "Those who bet the only way for the Cuban economy to resuscitate was through Castro's death, or a transition to a democratic system, may keep waiting perpetually."
The flood of new money pouring into Havana has allowed Mr. Castro to revive his effort to spread his revolution -- and his anti-Yanqui ideology -- to the rest of Latin America and Africa. Cuba, a nation of 11.3 million people, claims to have stationed thousands of doctors, nurses, engineers and social workers in 68 developing countries.
[url=http://thestar.workopolis.com/servlet/Content/fasttrack/20061031/RCASTRO... oil helps reignite Fidel's Cuba[/url]
Definitely a story not mentioned in the Miami herald or EmmaG's posts.
[ 10 November 2006: Message edited by: a lonely worker ]
Tue, 2006-11-14 20:15
#5
M. Spector
Meanwhile, the U.S. is redoubling its efforts to enforce the criminal blockade.
quote:
“This is not an embargo, but an act of economic war,” said Cuba’s vice-foreign minister, Bruno Rodrнguez, at a mid-October news conference. He complained that Cuba had to spend far more on insurance and freight in 2005 because Cuba was forced to trade with nations more distant than the United States.
...In all, Rodrнguez said “conservatively” that the embargo has cost the island more than $86 billion. That includes income lost as the tally of Cuban-American visitors fell 54%, from more than 115,000 in 2003 to less than 62,000 in 2005. Visits from other Americans fell 45%, from over 85,000 in 2003 to 39,000 in 2005.
Washington has cracked down on Americans who go to Cuba without special licenses by fining 487 people a total of more than $500,000 for breaking a ban on travel to Cuba.
It is also increasingly chasing companies in third countries who do business with Cuba and threatening banks to close down Cuban accounts and transactions in dollars, he told a news conference.
“The blockade intensified and its extraterritorial reach has been extended,” Rodriguez said during the release of Cuba’s annual report to the UN General Assembly on the impact of the embargo.
Last month, the U.S. Treasury Department fined Dresser Rand Group Inc. $171,300 for trading with the island. The New York-based supplier of energy products was penalized because its Brazilian subsidiary had purchased raw materials from Cuba.
....Stepped-up U.S. measures include stepped up action to freeze Cuban assets and the creation of a task force to chase Cubans nickel, Cuba’s top export with annual sales of $1.1 billion, mined in part by Canada’s Sherritt International.
Cuba said there had been a marked increase in U.S. pressure on foreign banks to cut correspondence relations with Cuban banks over the last year.
Swiss bank UBS AG and HSBC in London closed dollar accounts held by Cuba, the Cuban report to the UN said. And Trinidad’s Republic Bank Ltd. has stopped processing payments that Cuba makes to U.S. agricultural exporters.
In July, the Netherlands Caribbean Bank (NCB), a subsidiary of Dutch financial services group ING Groep NV, was put on a U.S. blacklist for doing business in Cuba. [url=http://www.luxner.com/cgi-bin/view_article.cgi?articleID=1535]Source[/url]
The U.S. Attorney for Southern Florida, Alexander Acosta, recently announced a new task force called the Cuba Sanctions Enforcement Task Force (CSETF). It is made up of several government agencies such as the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC), the U.S. Department of Treasury, the Department of Homeland Security, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Commerce Department and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Acosta said that enforcing sanctions against Cuba is a political priority of the United States. "We want to make it perfectly clear that federal agencies are fully alert and will make sure they enforce the regulations against Cuba. If we have evidence of a violation the violator risks being penalized with up to 10 years in prison and 1 million dollar fine."
Thus, any Cuban who visits his ill mother, who stays on the island for more than 14 days every three years, who spends more than $50.00 US a day during their 14-day stay, who sends a remittance to a cousin, aunt or his father, if his father is a member of the Communist Party, and who doesn’t have a licence issued by the Treasury Department, can be condemned to 10 years in prison and/or a $1 million fine. Likewise, any American tourist who spends a weekend in Havana could get the same punishment.
Tue, 2006-11-14 20:29
#6
The U.S. has become an oppressive, out of control rogue superpower.
Tue, 2006-11-14 22:50
#7
We also can't forget our own Scotia bank who shafted the Cuban government earlier this year:
[url=http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/html/20060407T000000-0500_102109_... carries US big stick against Cuba[/url]
Meanwhile the anti-Cuba press is still spending its money on totally pointless articles:
[url=http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/A... Canadians flocking to Cuba[/url]
quote:
The number of tourists arriving in Cuba from Europe and Canada has fallen, according to a Tourism Ministry report seen by Reuters Tuesday.The number of tourists from Canada was down 1.9 percent in September from last September, the number of tourists from Spain fell 5.7 percent, Italy 15 percent, and Germany 9.8 percent and France 5.2 percent, with only Britain showing an increase of 5.7 percent.
The report gave no reason for the drop.
But industry sources said the communist-run Caribbean island has put less emphasis on tourism as a key driver of its economy in recent years as discounted oil from Venezuela, a boom in medical and other service exports and spike in nickel prices eased economic pressures.
Industry sources said earlier this year that partly because of changes to exchange rates, Cuba was becoming increasingly costly and less profitable for foreign tour operators, some of whom were switching to other Caribbean countries.
Of course being in the middle of hurricane season along with political uncertainty had absolutely nothing to do with this. At the same time Canadian travel to many other countries dropped for the same month as well but why let facts like this get in the way of a "bad Cuba" story.
Another interesting story is the pressure many travel companies are facing by offering packages to Cuba. In Britain, many have been taken over by American companies leading to the usual clampdown:
quote:
Hundreds of British travellers have had their Cuban holiday plans destroyed due to a clampdown on business with the government of Fidel Castro by Cendant, the American company that owns British travel agencies such as Ebookers, Octopus and Travelbag.Cendant has spent the last year buying up online travel agencies around the world. But in the last two weeks, it has told all its subsidiaries to cease business immediately with Cuba, on the grounds that it could be liable for prosecution in the United States under the terms of the 44-year-old American trade embargo against the Caribbean republic.
And finally some good news:
quote:
The Canadian Govt has found an interesting way to wave those two Anglo-Saxon fingers at the US. One of Cuba’s major industries is nickel mining (with associated cobalt ) and the mines, which were expropriated after the revolution, are run by a Canadian company, Sherritt. The actual nickel production is done in Canada and under Helms-Burton it would be an offense for anyone to enter the US with a product made from that metal. There are a number of Canadian nickel producers, but the Mint specifically buys from Sherritt for the manufacture of the coinage.The end result of this is that under US law, possession of Canadian silver (actually made from a nickel alloy) coinage within the US is a criminal offense. I will confess, I don’t know whether this has been done deliberately or not, but I do hope so.
Since this article is from 2005, one can only wonder how long our "New Government" will continue doing this.
Here's the link to both quotes (it's about halfway down):
[url=http://timworstall.typepad.com/timworstall/travel/index.html]That Cuban Ban.[/url]
[ 14 November 2006: Message edited by: a lonely worker ]
Thu, 2006-11-16 14:08
#8
M. Spector
Gives a whole new meaning to the advice, "Don't take any wooden nickels." [img]biggrin.gif" border="0[/img]
Thu, 2006-11-16 22:30
#9
double post. sorry.
[ 16 November 2006: Message edited by: a lonely worker ]
Thu, 2006-11-16 22:32
#10
Unfortunately the agression still continues:
[url=http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?view=CN&storyID=2006... blasts Swiss banks for cutting off business[/url]
quote:
Cuba's central bank blasted Swiss banks UBS and Credit Suisse on Thursday for cutting off business dealings with Cuba, saying they had bowed to U.S. pressure.In a statement, the central bank said the United States' long-standing economic embargo against the communist nation led to the banks' "pitiful" decision.
"The actions of these two banks have nothing to do with respect of the law or looking after their banking transactions. It is simply an act of submission to the U.S., which they don't dare confess," the Cuban bank said.
The Swiss banks said on Sunday in response to a published report they had stopped doing business with "sensitive" countries," including Cuba, citing the difficulties and expenses involved.
A UBS spokesman said other "sensitive countries" included North Korea, Iran and Sudan.
So North Korea develops a nuke, Iran's building one, Sudan is committing genocide and Cuba?
This imperialism is disgusting and I'm somewhat surprised the Swiss held out as long as they did considering what the US has put them through:
[url=http://cgi.stanford.edu/group/wais/cgi-bin/index.php?p=2196]CUBA: Swiss Banks and Fidel Castro [/url]
quote:
Congress is being asked to look into Swiss banking giant UBS amid questions over its handling of bank-note transactions for Cuba. Newspapers have picked up on Florida Republican Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen’s complaints that the bank hasn’t satisfactorily explained the source of $3.9 billion processed for Cuba over a period of seven years. UBS paid a $100 million fine in 2004 for doing business with Cuba and other rogue states and hoped the issue would go away.Ros-Lehtinen has sent a series of letters to the likes of Treasury Secretary John Snow and UBS Chairman Marcel Ospel. “We’re trying to get to the bottom” of where the billions of dollars came from, says her spokesman. Some Cuban-Americans have their own ideas, citing cash obtained from illicit drug trafficking. A 2004 congressional hearing revealed almost nothing, says Ernesto Betancourt, a retired economist. UBS denies any money laundering and says the amounts were consistent with tourism revenues to Cuba.
Must be all those drug crazed tourists at the all inclusives in Varedero! Yeah, that's it.
Thu, 2006-11-16 22:44
#11
quote:
Originally posted by Fidel:
[b]The U.S. has become an oppressive, out of control rogue superpower.[/b]
I don't know if you caught Bush's speech in Singapore, but it was the most blatantly hypocritical set of myths, platitudes, slogans and fallacies ever delivered to a willing/gullible audience.
(I hope those young asian college students transcend Bushian rhetorical traps, and find their viable model of democratic socialism without being duped by charisma, hype, strawmen, false dichotomies and misleading demonization)
Fri, 2006-11-17 03:39
#12
As long as the rest of the world continues to cave in to US demands regarding relations with Cuba, then we are complicit in the acts against Cuba as well. Does anyone, anywhere think someone will stand up to our out of control fascist neighbour? All these countries need the US. I say we cut ties with them, develop other trading partners, stop NAFTA and say adios to bad rubbish.
Pepper Pot, I wish I had the stomach to watch Bush speak but I simply can't. This man runs on air, with balloons filled with sloganns above his head. I doubt he has spoken an entire conhesive sentence in his life.
Sat, 2006-11-18 10:17
#13
quote:
Originally posted by Pepper-Pot:
[b]I don't know if you caught Bush's speech in Singapore, but it was the most blatantly hypocritical set of myths, platitudes, slogans and fallacies ever delivered to a willing/gullible audience.[/b]
Oooooh Singapore! Don't mention Singapore around here. It's another oppressive capitalist nation, just like Haiti!
Tue, 2007-10-30 19:44
#14
[url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7069917.stm]This year's vote: 184 to 4[/url]
quote:
The 192-member General Assembly passed the measure by 184 votes to four, with one abstention. [...]The US, Israel, Palau, and the Marshall Islands voted against repealing the embargo, while Micronesia abstained.
Israel - an infamous suburb of Miami which ended up in the Middle East through some freak of continental drift - continues to cheer for any shit the U.S. throws its way.
If Harper wins his majority, watch for a 5th "no" vote next year this time.
Oh wait, sorry Ed Broadbent, I take that back, I don't mean to demonize Stephen Harper, he's just the same as all the others, no better, no worse...
Tue, 2007-10-30 20:30
#15
M. Spector
The extent of the US's isolation on this issue is truly astonishing, when you consider how many allies they have around the world. And the vote this year is the highest against the blockade in all the 16-year history of this annual ritual.
They couldn't get the support of any of their vassal states like Colombia, Afghanistan, South Korea, Ethiopia, etc. - only two South Pacific sock puppets and Israel. The fact that Israel would side with the US on this issue when everyone else doesn't is a devastating condemnation of the immorality of that country's foreign policy.
Wed, 2007-10-31 08:27
#16
quote:
The number of tourists from Canada was down 1.9 percent in September from last September,
Dont people at the Star know statistics?
1.9% drop is statistically insignificant...
But think about this resolution for a while people.
184 countries has voted for ENDING the crminal embargo against the island nation.
Only four have voted against(one out of four is US, 2 others are Pacific semi-colonies)
Why do we find so many people in Canada who blame CUba first and even justify that embargo, when the entire world(no fucking exaggeration) opposes the embargo?
Wed, 2007-10-31 10:09
#17
N.Beltov
UN vote sidebar: The 1983/84 vote in the U.N. General Assembly opposing the militarization of outer space was something like 135 to 2. The U.S. and a recently invaded Caribbean island, Grenada, whose space program was a well-kept secret, rejected the virtually unanimous opposition to the militarization of outer space.
O.K. I was kidding about the Grenada space program. What other reason could there be for their vote at the time, I wonder?
Wed, 2007-10-31 21:37
#18
Sven
Calling the US actions a "blockade" is an extreme characterization (and it's characterized that way for a reason). I think it's more accurate, though less emotive, to call it an "embargo".
That being said, I think the US policy is stupid. The more countries that freely trade with Cuba, the more open the country will likely become and, hopefully, that will lead to more political, civil, and economic freedoms for the people of Cuba.
Thu, 2007-11-01 15:49
#19
M. Spector
By the way, if you have a Master Card issued by MBNA Canada, it cannot be used in Cuba because of the embargo.
MBNA Canada, a subsidiary of Bank of America, is one of the largest Master Card issuers in Canada. Many "affinity" card programs are run by MBNA.
Also, [url=http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2007/11/01/credit-union.html]they just bought out CUETS, which issues millions of Master Cards to members of credit unions and caisses populaires.[/url]
Continental integration continues apace.
Thu, 2007-11-01 17:24
#20
quote:
Originally posted by Sven:
[b]Calling the US actions a "blockade" is an extreme characterization (and it's characterized that way for a reason). I think it's more accurate, though less emotive, to call it an "embargo".[/b]
Yes, a small third world country has a revolucion to overthrow a brutally repressive U.S.-backed mafia regime. The result of that was an attempt to invade the third world island nation, but the CIA orchestrated military invasion failed. And so then a decades-long blockade is imposed on the island. The devastating results of U.S.-led blockades are evident in North Korea, and evident as well in Iraq from 1991 to bombs away.
quote:
[b]That being said, I think the US policy is stupid. The more countries that freely trade with Cuba, the more open the country will likely become and, hopefully, that will lead to more political, civil, and economic freedoms for the people of Cuba.[/b]
China, Iran and Venezuela are ignoring the U.S.-led medieval siege and stepping in to fill the void. As for who is still fomenting what amounts to dated cold war mentality, I think it is a powerful few with links to the U.S. mafia and Republican cabal elite with regime change on the brain. Cuba is the only country in the world with political representation in U.S. Congress.
Thu, 2007-11-01 18:44
#21
M. Spector
quote:
The 192-member General Assembly passed the measure by 184 votes to four, with one abstention.
Just to complete the picture, the abstention was from the Federated States of Micronesia. And three countries were absent for the vote: Albania, El Salvador, and Iraq.
Interesting to read the [url=http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2007/ga10649.doc.htm]summaries of the speeches made in the General Assembly[/url] on this issue. Here are a few:
Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque estimated the blockade had cost Cuba $222 billion in the last 47 years (in current US dollars).
The South African delegate:
quote:
“The embargo that was designed to stifle the everyday lives of the Cuban people has instead produced a contribution by Cuba to the betterment of the lives of other people around the world.” He particularly noted Cuba’s contributions to his own country’s freedom and democracy in the fight against apartheid.
The Chinese guy said the embargo went "against the principles of democracy, freedom, rule of law and human rights."
The Tanzanian guy said the embargo was specifically targeted to inflict the maximum amount of suffering on the people of Cuba, in an effort to undermine the Government.
Speaking on behalf of the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) the Uruguayan representative said the embargo was contrary to the freedom and transparency of international commerce.
Thu, 2007-11-01 23:34
#22
Fri, 2007-11-02 01:02
#23
quote:
Originally posted by Doug:
[b]Lots richer than Haiti, but oppressive? [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Singapore">Check. Capitalist? Check.[/b]
Yeh-yeh Economist Paul Krugman described Singapore's as a state-managed economy. He said Lee Kwan Yew's mobilisation of resources would have done Stalin proud. And Singapore has rated not just in the top ten most competitive economies but high in the top five for several years running.
Fri, 2007-11-02 17:51
#24
M. Spector
quote:
Originally posted by Fidel:
[b]A book reviewer said:[/b]
Who [i]was[/i] that book reviewer, Fidel?
It wouldn't by any chance be Lawrence Solomon, that neo-con climate change denier who [url=http://www.rabble.ca/babble/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=45&t=000278]w... garbage for the National Pest[/url], would it?
Fri, 2007-11-02 18:28
#25
Lee Kwan Yew was a protege of British socialist Harold Wilson while governing and in government in Singapore for over three decades.
The right-wing U.S. think tank Heritage Foundation was running out of countries to label models for Libertarian economic Darwinism, like Hong Kong. So they pretty much had to ignore Singapore's extensive state interventionism in the economy when describing the island as a model for dog-eat-dog capitalism.
Fri, 2007-11-02 18:40
#26
Singapore is not socialist! Singapore is not socalist! Singapore is not Socailist!
Truly socialist states do not have police forces which cane people for spitting on sidewaks!
Fri, 2007-11-02 18:48
#27
M. Spector
quote:
Originally posted by Fidel:
[b]...British socialist Harold Wilson...[/b]
Gee, and all this time I thought Wilson was with the Labour Party.
But since he was a socialist, and was Prime Minister of the UK for 8 years, I guess that means the UK is a socialist country?
Fri, 2007-11-02 18:53
#28
quote:
Originally posted by CMOT Dibbler:
[b]Singapore is not socialist! Singapore is not socalist! Singapore is not Socailist!Truly socialist states do not have police forces which cane people for spitting on sidewaks![/b]
China is not capitalist! Capitalists don't hand over controlling interest, or large minority shares in their Chinese businesses, to the CCP!
The U.S. is not capitalist since Herbert Hoover, Social Security, Great America spending and Keynesian-militarism driving technology and innovation after leave-it-to-the-market failed.
Without public sector job creation, Soc-Sec, massive spending on military and public works of all kinds, the most allegedly capitalist nation in the world would experience 1929 on a permanent basis, or until another FDR came along and introduced New Deal socialism.
[ 02 November 2007: Message edited by: Fidel ]
Fri, 2007-11-02 19:11
#29
Alright, economically speaking it is. The government of Singapore is very left wing when it comes to providing the basics. However, it is very right wing when it comes to dealing with other things like disent.
Fidel, excelent housing, food, education and healthcare are all very well, but in order for a country to be considered truly socialist, it needs to provide room for self actualization to take place, as well as providing the essentials. It needs to allow for many kinds of art and music to flourish, and most of all it needs to allow for an opposition.
[ 02 November 2007: Message edited by: CMOT Dibbler ]
[ 02 November 2007: Message edited by: CMOT Dibbler ]
Fri, 2007-11-02 23:31
#30
quote:
Originally posted by CMOT Dibbler:
[b] Fidel, excelent housing, food, education and healthcare are all very well, but in order for a country to be considered truly socialist, it needs to provide room for self actualization to take place, as well as providing the essentials. It needs to allow for many kinds of art and music to flourish, and most of all it needs to allow for an opposition.[/b]
Singapore has [url=http://www.artsingapore.net/index-as.html]art[/url]
Sat, 2007-11-03 10:02
#31
Ah yes, but do they allow erotic gay paintings or characatures of singoporian leaders?
Wed, 2008-10-29 12:56
#32
M. Spector
[url=http://www.juventudrebelde.co.cu/cuba/2008-10-25/canadian-firm-files-com... Firm Files Complaint Against US Blockade of Cuba[/url]
The Cari Med Canada Trading Inc. has filed a complaint with the US government for interfering with its trade with Cuba….
Alberto Rodrнguez, Cari Med sales and marketing manager, spoke about the criminal reach of the US blockade: “[US authorities] increasingly ask for more things. Licenses granted by the US Departments of Commerce and Treasury to sell products to Cuba are extremely restricted and exhaustive. They ask us for completely absurd details.”
“Among the recent problems we have faced due to the tightening of the US blockade is the semi-collapse of the non-invasive surgery program at the [url=http://www.medicc.org/publications/medicc_review/0105/pages/cuban_medica... Center at the William Soler Children’s Hospital[/url]...We want people to know that pressure from the blockade has been so hard that we have had to stop negotiations with this hospital. In other words, children with cardiovascular disorders suffer much more in some open-heart surgeries directly due to the actions of the US government,” said Rodrнguez.
Outraged by the interference, Cari Med filed a letter of complaint with the head of the US Interests Section in Havana. “Incredibly, [the head of the US Interest Section] said that orders come from Washington and that he wasn’t even asked his opinion on the matter.”
Rodriguez called the US blockade a criminal act of genocide and cruelty: “These are the only words I can use to describe the action of preventing a child from being treated with a plug [url=http://www.amplatzer.com/]amplatzer[/url] [used to close internal cavities in the heart] while fighting for their life.”
“This device allows children to go home to be with their families much faster than without it. Even though we are a Canadian company, we are affected by the US restrictions to sell products to Cuba that benefit the general population and children in particular. This act shows the extraterritorial nature of the blockade and its brutality.”[/quote]
see also: [url=http://members.allstream.net/~dchris/CubaFAQ137.html]Is the US embargo a form of genocide?[/url]
Wed, 2008-10-29 13:07
#33
Our impotent ones should threaten to abrrogate NAFTA. Six months later all Canadian companies and governments would be free to do business and negotiate wherever and with whomever they please by free market methods.
Wed, 2008-10-29 13:10
#34
Boom Boom
What's Obama's position on the US blockade of Cuba - anyone know?
Wed, 2008-10-29 13:18
#35
quote:
Originally posted by Boom Boom:
[b]What's Obama's position on the US blockade of Cuba - anyone know?[/b]
American is an imperialist country and rightly so. He will lift the blockade when Cuba opens up its politic system to American influence. He will also allow "family" members to visit people in Cuba but apparently only family members.
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqO37BBhCqY]America is Right All the Time and Obama will tell the world how it is to be ruled[/url]
Wed, 2008-10-29 13:27
#36
This is a good one from Mike Whitney
[url=http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/10/the-new-american-century-cut-short... New American Century: Cut Short by 92 Years[/url]
quote:
Yes; plenty of money will still flow into covert operations and CIA-sponsored dirty tricks just to keep alive the hope that Superpowerdom will be restored. That is to be expected. The well-heeled rogues in the British royal family still dream of rebuilding the Empire, too. But realists know that it’s just a harmless fantasy. Nothing will come of it. Empire’s have a short shelf-life and they’re impossible to stitch-back together
It's time for change.
Wed, 2008-10-29 14:49
#37
Obama:
quote:
As president, I'm not going to take off the embargo... It's an important inducement for change, because we know Castro's death will not automatically guarantee freedom.
Bastard.
Wed, 2008-10-29 15:44
#38
M. Spector
Make that 17 times in a row:
quote:
The UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly for the 17th year in a row Wednesday to demand an end to the 46-year-old US trade embargo on communist-ruled Cuba, with only three countries saying no.Some 185 of the assembly's 192 members voted in favor of the text which reiterated a "call upon all states to refrain from promulgating and applying laws and measures (such as those in the US embargo) in conformity with their obligations under the Charter of the United Nations and international law."
The United States, Israel and Palau voted against the resolution while Micronesia and the Marshall Islands abstained. - [url=http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hzcpxqeAdo9cbz02WNIb9rCudT0w]AFP[/url]
This is real progress: Two years ago and again last year the Marshall Islands voted against.
[ 29 October 2008: Message edited by: M. Spector ]
Sun, 2009-10-25 01:00
#39
M. Spector
Make that 18 in a row, as of next Wednesday, October 28, 2009. On that date the General Assembly will once again condemn the blockade of Cuba.
Excerpts from [url=http://www.walterlippmann.com/2009-cuban-report-to-un-on-us-blockade.htm...'s report to the General Assembly[/url], to be presented on Wednesday:
The economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States against Cuba 50 years ago is the most elevated expression of a cruel and inhuman policy, lacking in legality and legitimacy and deliberately designed to create hunger, illnesses and desperation within the Cuban populace. Nothing has changed through ten successive US governments other than a tightening of this policy. Nothing essential has changed either since the new US government was inaugurated in January 2009.With the absolute compliance with Resolution 63/7, adopted by the UN General Assembly on October 29, 2008, in a vote of 185 nations in favour and only 3 opposed, the government of the United States, far from lifting the economic, commercial and financial embargo it had imposed on the Republic of Cuba, has maintained in effect the laws, regulations and practices that sustain it. It has continued to reinforce the political, administrative and repressive mechanisms for it's more efficacious and deliberate implementation.
The present US government has continued to rigorously apply the embargo against Cuba. It has made no declarations, not to mention taken any steps, directed towards the removal of the complex maze of laws and administrative regulations that make up the legal bases and the regulations of the embargo. Neither have the foundations upon which that policy has been erected been modified. This can be demonstrated by the laws and regulations described below.
[b][i]Trading with the Enemy Act (TWEA).[/i][/b] It was enacted as a war measure in 1917 in order to restrict trade with nations considered to be hostile. Subsequently, its application was expanded to authorize the president to regulate ownership transactions that involved any of its nationals in a foreign country, both in time of war as "during any period of national emergency declared by the president". The first regulations of the embargo against Cuba in 1962 are based on this act.
[b][i]Foreign Aid Act.[/i][/b] By means of this act, enacted in 19671, the United States Congress authorized the president of that country to establish and maintain "a total embargo on trade between the United States and Cuba". It also prohibited the granting of any aid to the government of Cuba.
[b][i]Export Administration Act (EAA).[/i][/b] Adopted in 1979 as the result of the review of controls over exports. It authorized the president to control, en general, the export and re-export of goods and technology and, in particular, to restrict those exports that would contribute to the military potential of any country, detrimental to US national security.
[b][i]Cuban Democracy Act (CDA).[/i][/b] More widely known as the Torricelli Act, it was signed into law by President Bush (father) in October 1992. With it, the US government reinforced economic measures against Cuba and provided normative support to the extra-territorial dimensionof the embargo. It prohibited companies that were subsidiaries of US companies in third countries from carrying out transactions with Cuba or Cuban nationals and the entry into US territory, during a term of 180 days, of vessels from third countries that had put into Cuban ports, just to name a few of the restrictions.
[b][i]Cuban Liberty and Solidarity Act.[/i][/b] Known as the Helms-Burton Act, it was approved by President Clinton in March 1996. It sought to discourage foreign investment and to internationalize the Cuban embargo. It codified the regulations of the embargo, limited the presidential prerogatives to suspend this policy and broadened its extra-territorial scope. It refused entry into the United States of executives of foreign companies (and their families) who had invested in "confiscated" property in Cuba and established the possibility of taking them to trial in US courts.
[b][i]Export Administration Act (EAA).[/i][/b] Adopted in 1979 as the result of the review of controls over exports. It authorized the president to control, in general, the export and re-export of goods and technology and, in particular, to restrict those exports that would contribute to the military potential of any country detrimental to US national security.
[b][i]Export Administration Regulations (EAR).[/i][/b] Among these, there is the prohibition on exports from the US to Cuba, other than exceptions that are specified in the regulation itself or those that are authorized by licences issued by the US Bureau of Industry and Security of the Department of Commerce. Said regulations are protected by the Trading with the Enemy Act and the Export Administration Act.
The extent of legislation and regulations mentioned above demonstrates, moreover, that there has never been such a wide-ranging and brutal embargo against a people like the one the US is maintaining against Cuba. On the one hand, this classifies as [b]genocide[/b] by virtue of Section c of Article II of the Geneva Convention of 1948 on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and, on the other hand, as an [b]act of economic war[/b], according to the stipulations of the declaration regarding Maritime War adopted by the 1909 London Naval Conference.
The embargo against Cuba is not a bilateral issue between our country and the United States. The repeated extra-territorial application of US laws and the persecution against the legitimate interests of companies and citizens of third countries significantly have repercussions on the sovereignty of many other States.
Protected by this policy, sanctions continue to be applied on US and European companies that do business with Cuba. Persons who are ill in Cuba cannot in many instances benefit from new diagnostics, technologies or drugs, even though their lives depend on it because independently of the fact that these were products or were available in a third country, the embargo laws forbid that Cuba acquires even just one single component or program that comes from the United States.
According to very conservative figures, the direct harm inflicted on Cuba as a result of the embargo, until December 2008, [b]surpasses 96 billion dollars[/b], a figure that would reach [b]36 thousand 221 million dollars[/b], if the calculation were to be made using today's value of the US dollar. It is not difficult to imagine the progress Cuba would have been able to achieve and how much progress has been denied it if it hadn't been for these 50 years of being submitted to this brutal economic war.
In open defiance of the growing demands both inside and outside the US that this policy be eliminated, the new American government has reiterated gain and again its intention to maintain the embargo against Cuba. US Vice President Joseph Biden declared: [b][i]"The US will maintain the embargo as a tool to apply pressure on Cuba".[/i][/b]
Sun, 2009-10-25 02:27
#40
[Mr. Tyzik]I'm looking at a photo of Biden right now, and I'm crushing his tiny head between my fingers. crush crush crush[/]
Viva La Revolucion!
Thu, 2009-10-29 15:35
#41
M. Spector
The 187-3 vote on Wednesday to condemn the embargo marked a slight rise in opposition to the US policy from last year, when 185 General Assembly member states voted against the restrictions.
Israel, Palau and the United States itself were the only nations that voted in favour of the embargo.
The General Assembly has now taken up the symbolic measure for each of the last 19 [sic] years.
- Al Jazeera
Thu, 2009-10-29 15:39
#42
Looking back I still find it incredible that that "peace prize" winner Obama spoke mockingly one year ago today of Fidel's death. He truly is a bastard. If I were religious, I would pray that Fidel outlives Obama.
Thu, 2009-10-29 16:54
#43
It should come as no surprise that the blockade continues under Obama.
Historically, Kennedy was in charge of assasination attempts, the Bay of Pigs, economic terrorism, and a barrage of covert operations aimed at decreasing the quality of life in Cuba. Yet, he is still remembered by the American left as a great hero for making Russia/Cuba stand down. (Although, the Russians got US missiles out of Turkey, and Cuba got an assurance the US would not invade), but the US got bragging rights, so Kennedy was able to save face.
Florida is a swing state, and Obama wants to win a second term. Perhaps in his second term he will be a little more agressive with some of these issues. No, he isn't the messiah, but at least he is moving the US in the right direction. People that are expecting instant and complete progress all issues, should have worked harder to get Dennis Kucinich elected.
Thu, 2009-10-29 17:24
#44
M. Spector
Kucinich would have made "instant and complete progress"? Who knew?
Thu, 2009-10-29 19:10
#45
Looking back I still find it incredible that that "peace prize" winner Obama spoke mockingly one year ago today of Fidel's death. He truly is a bastard. If I were religious, I would pray that Fidel outlives Obama.
It's the thought that counts. And, thanks. Yes I can!. 
Thu, 2009-10-29 20:08
#46
It should come as no surprise that the blockade continues under Obama.
It doesn't. I predicted it while some here were drooling over his prospective election.
Historically, Kennedy was in charge of assasination attempts, the Bay of Pigs, economic terrorism, and a barrage of covert operations aimed at decreasing the quality of life in Cuba.
You appear to have forgotten the slaughter of millions in Viet Nam and elsewhere in Southeast Asia, which he initiated.
Yet, he is still remembered by the American left as a great hero for making Russia/Cuba stand down.
By "the American left", you mean Rush Limbaugh? Kennedy was a bastard, cut from very similar cloth as Obama.
Florida is a swing state, and Obama wants to win a second term.
I'm sorry he won a first term. I would have preferred to see McCain in the White House.
Perhaps in his second term he will be a little more agressive with some of these issues.
You say that as if it were a good thing.
No, he isn't the messiah, but at least he is moving the US in the right direction.
Exactly.
People that are expecting instant and complete progress all issues, should have worked harder to get Dennis Kucinich elected.
McCain would have done better.
Thu, 2010-11-18 16:09
#47
M. Spector
[url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-10/27/c_13576743.htm]It's 19 in a row and counting...[/url]
"Criminal," "genocidal policy," "violation of international law," "disregard of noble principles of the Charter of the United Nations" and "callous disregard of the will of the United Nations" were the words used by countries on Tuesday [Oct. 26, 2010] when they slammed the United States again for maintaining the five-decade embargo against Cuba.
The only country to vote with the United States in the assembly this year was Israel, heavily dependent on U.S. support at the world body on Middle East issues. [b]The tiny Pacific states of Palau, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands abstained. Last year, Palau voted against[/b] the resolution.
We're making progress!
Thu, 2010-11-18 21:17
#48
Viva la revolucion!