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1. THE U.S. BLOCKADE AGAINST CUBA: ESTABLISHMENT, APPLICATION AND STRENGTHENING

Any consideration of the policy of blockade should be undertaken from a historical perspective, for this is the only way to get a full picture of the enormous challenges faced by the Cuban nation for more than two centuries. Never has a country been subjected in such a continuous and permanent manner to the danger represented by a powerful neighbor historically bent on its domination and annexation. History has left no room for doubt as to the true intentions of the United States' policy towards Cuba, especially since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959.

In its zealous attempts to destroy the political, economic and social system established by the Cuban people with their Revolution -- sustained, consolidated and developed through the firm and sovereign will of the overwhelming majority of the people -- the application of economic sanctions has been a cornerstone of the United States' policy of hostility and aggression towards Cuba.

Preliminary studies show that the damages resulting from the application of this genocidal policy against Cuba now surpass 72 billion U.S. dollars. This is a conservative figure, and does not include the more than 54 billion dollars in direct damages caused to Cuban economic and social targets through acts of sabotage and terrorism promoted, organized and financed from the United States.
The absolute falsity of the various excuses used by successive U.S. administrations for more than four decades to attempt to justify the economic and political war against Cuba has in fact been demonstrated in official documents from the United States, declassified in 1991. These documents include testimonies and irrefutable proof that this hostility predated any measures adopted by the Revolutionary government of Cuba from 1959 onwards.

The economic war against Cuba began long before the blockade was formally established through an executive order of the president of the United States. Its extraterritorial nature, institutionalized through the 1992 Torricelli Act, has always affected trade, financial relations and investments not only between the United States and Cuba, but also between Cuba and third countries.

The blockade abruptly and drastically cut Cuba off from all ties with the United States, our closest market, the country with which Cuba had historically carried out the bulk of its foreign trade, and to which we were technologically linked as well.

Cuba was then obliged to redirect its economic ties, and search out new sources of supplies and markets for its exports in much more distant regions of the world. All of this entailed enormous expenditures on transportation and freight costs, and oversized inventories and reserves, with the high cost implied by the tying up of resources.

The problems faced by the Cuban economy as a result of the blockade were even further aggravated when, after the disintegration of the socialist economic cooperation system and of the Soviet Union itself, Cuba was hit once again by the rupture of ties with its traditional trade partners, this time, the USSR and the countries of Eastern Europe. As far as the United States was concerned, this was the perfect moment to deal a final blow to the Cuban Revolution.

Thus, in 1992, the Torricelli Act was passed, abruptly cutting off Cuba's purchases of food and medicine from subsidiaries of U.S. companies based in third countries and establishing strict prohibitions against ships entering Cuban ports.

Still not satisfied, however, due to their failure to bring about the collapse of the Cuban economic and political system, the United States passed the Helms-Burton Act in 1996. This legislation endowed all of the prohibitions of the blockade with the status of law and sought to prevent foreign investment in Cuba. At the same time, it institutionalized subversion, financed and directed by the U.S. government, as a means to break the independent will of the Cuban people.

This legislation, which extended to the entire international community, has been complemented by subsequent provisions and measures aimed at even further reinforcing the blockade.

The declared disrespect for the rule of international law on the part of the U.S. government did not end with the adoption of the Helms-Burton Act in 1996. In open violation of the legislation and commitments of the United States regarding intellectual property, and particularly the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPs), the U.S. government passed Section 211 of the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 1999. Section 211 is being used in the attempt to steal the Havana Club brand name from its legitimate owners, with the goal of granting the right to market Havana Club rum, first in the United States and then in third countries, to spurious and illegal claimants.

As was denounced in the report submitted by Cuba last year, in document A/57/264, the fraudulent coming to power in the United States of the administration of George W. Bush has resulted in an escalation of anti-Cuban rhetoric and greater support for the extremist and terrorist Cuban-American organizations in the state of Florida, to whom the current occupant of the White House owes his election. His ties with these groups, whose terrorist and pro-annexation activities are well known, have led to a toughening of the policy of blockade against the Cuban people.

While these economic sanctions and restrictions have been accompanied throughout more than four decades by initiatives to create, finance and direct internal subversion on the island, this particular administration has increased open support for the subversion of Cuban constitutional order to unprecedented levels. The U.S. Interests Section in Havana has been used to provide resources and financing and issue instructions to groups of mercenaries paid by and working for the superpower, with the aim of fomenting subversive and pro-annexation activities within Cuba. This is a clear violation and challenge to Cuban institutionality and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

Added to all of this is the decision by President George W. Bush to designate and promote officials with an openly anti-Cuban stance to key positions in the U.S. government. The consistently threatening discourse of President Bush and these officials with regard to Cuba is clear evidence of the dangers facing the Cuban people. Some of them have gone so far as to state that military aggression against Cuba has not been definitively ruled out.

The escalation of anti-Cuban propaganda and the United States' violation of the bilateral Migration Accords -- including, among other serious aspects, a drastic reduction in the granting of visas for both emigrants and temporary visitors to the United States from our country -- are aimed at provoking a migratory crisis that could be used as a pretext for intervention in Cuba.

This past March 26, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell announced the granting of significant federal funds to support illegal radio and television broadcasting aimed at Cuba, which contravenes the regulations established by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). The violation of our radio space with over 2 200 hours of broadcasting against Cuba weekly is aimed at fomenting internal subversion, acts of sabotage, illegal emigration, and the dissemination of outrageous lies and hoaxes against our country.

As part of the Bush administration's commitments to the Miami Cuban-American mob, this past May 20, in a clear escalation of radio aggression, the station created and operated by the U.S. government for the purpose of promoting subversion in Cuba, and insultingly given the name of José Martí, began broadcasting on four new frequencies. This attack led to interferences in Cuban radio broadcasting.

On the evening of that same day, the television signal beamed towards Cuba for the same purposes by the official U.S. propaganda agencies went on the air from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m., broadcasting from a U.S. Armed Forces aircraft and using channels and systems legally assigned to Cuban television stations and duly registered with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), severely affecting Cuban television services, particularly educational and cultural programming.

Previously, on March 24, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), one of the U.S. government agencies that ensure the implementation of the blockade, had issued new regulations that reinforced the blockade policy. Even further restrictions were placed on travel to Cuba by U.S. citizens, and the granting of licenses for people-to-people educational exchange was completely eliminated. At the same time, in keeping with this escalation of aggression, steps were adopted to facilitate travel to Cuba for those who want to come to our country in order to supply the mercenary groups who conspire to subvert the Cuban constitutional order.

These new regulations joined with a toughening of sanctions against U.S. citizens who travel to Cuba. One of the most publicized cases has been that of Joan Slote, a senior citizen and retired health care sector worker, who traveled to Cuba for eight days two years ago. What was the crime committed by this 74-year-old woman? Going on a trip to Cuba and traveling through a part of the country on bicycle. For this "serious violation" of the blockade regulations, she was given a fine of 8 500 dollars.

To cite another example, how can it be explained that more than 10 patients from the United States who requested permission to travel to Cuba for ozone therapy services at a prestigious Cuban scientific institution were not allowed to visit the country and benefit from these treatments, as a result of the policy of blockade? Does such a policy make any sense whatsoever?

Finally, it is worthwhile to recall that Cuba is the only country off limits to U.S. citizens by law.

With regard to sales of food to Cuba, only recently authorized, these are subject to complex procedures and rules that make them enormously difficult to carry out. U.S. companies are obliged to go through complicated bureaucratic steps to obtain a license authorizing them to sell their products to Cuba. In addition, our country is obliged to pay for all purchases in cash, with no possibility of financial credit, not even from private sources; these payments must be made through banks in third countries and in other currencies, leading to losses as a result of the necessary currency exchange operations.

The transportation of the products that can finally be bought must be carried out by ships from the United States or third countries, after obtaining a license for this purpose. Cuba cannot use its own maritime fleet for these commercial operations, resulting in considerable losses.

This is compounded by the fact that our country cannot make any sales whatsoever to U.S. companies interested in buying Cuban products, which therefore rules out this possibility of generating a source of income that would allow for the expansion of these operations.

Finally, it is impossible to even imagine trade between two sovereign states without the existence of a normal regime of business relations that allows for negotiation, a regular financial flow, air and maritime transportation, the benefit of customary formulas supporting foreign trade, and the critical access to credits.

The U.S. government uses its powerful media to inundate public opinion in the United States and around the world with a demonized image of the political, economic and social system that the Cuban people have freely chosen for themselves, by an overwhelming majority. At the same time, however, it seeks to silence the international community's rejection of the genocidal policy of blockade, under which numerous generations of Cubans have suffered.

Likewise, it ignores and attempts to conceal the resolutions calling for the lifting of the blockade that have been adopted every year by the United Nations General Assembly since 1992, and received an unprecedented number of votes in favor last year in this forum of universal participation.

Far from responding to this call for a change in policy towards Cuba, made by the international community and a growing number of sectors in the United States itself, including Republican and Democrat legislators in both houses of Congress, the current administration has not only adopted an even tougher and more confrontational discourse, but has also continued to step up the measures and actions aimed at even further intensifying the blockade against the Cuban nation.

Nevertheless, there are more voices joining in the rejection of the policy of blockade against Cuba every day. The visit to our country by 13 U.S. Congress members during the first quarter of 2003 and the introduction in Congress of six initiatives in favor of the lifting of the regime of sanctions are a palpable example of the growing rejection of current U.S. government policy towards Cuba on the part of important sectors of U.S. society.

The U.S. government's continued application of this aggressive policy and the rising hostility aimed at the Cuban people by the current administration are irrefutable proof of the total contempt shown by the superpower's top leaders for international law and the aims and principles of the United Nations Charter.

At a time when threats of war loom over the world, and the most formidable power in history is attempting to impose a Nazi-fascist dictatorship on a global scale, the Cuban people will continue to denounce the genocidal policy of blockade, and with the same strength and determination, they will defend the achievements and conquests made in the process of profound revolutionary transformations.

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