Cuba battles Bush and US blockade with "courage and serenity"; envoy says majority supports lifting of blockade

New Delhi
29 October 2007

An internet user in Havana cannot log on to Google Earth or
download McAfee antivirus software because Google and McAfee, like most internet
companies, are American, and Washington prohibits doing business with Cuba or
Cubans. A pop-up message on MaAfee curtly tells a Cuban user: "We are sorry but it
appears that you are located in a country that we are unable to export to in accordance
with the United States law."

That Americans do not do business with Cuba is only half the story told because, says
Cuban Ambassador to India Miguel Angel Ramirez Ramos, they won't let others either.
On the eve of voting on a United Nations resolution condemning US blockade of Cuba,
Mr Ramos told this newspaper that the Torricelli Act of 1992 and the Helms-Burton Act of
1996 are instances of what he calls "economic warfare" and "an act of genocide".

He said that the two US Acts illegally force companies and citizens of other countries to
follow the US law, prohibiting trade with Cuba. A US court can hold a trial against
businessmen and women of third countries like India for doing business with Cuba.
Another legislation, called "Section 211", allows American companies to "steal" the
Havana Club brandname of Cuban rum or the Cohiba cigar brandname for the US market.
The "Section 211" further prevents third-country companies from filing suits with the US
courts over trademark violations if these are related to business deals with Cuba.

Such is the nature of the "longest and most cruel" blockade that Cubans living in the US
are not allowed to visit their relatives on the island for years on end. Only a lucky few
manage to travel before a relative dies. "US citizens or permanent residents cannot
legally buy any Cuban product in a third country even for personal use .... So an
American diplomat living in Delhi is liable for prosecution for buying Cuban cigar in
India," Mr Ramos said, adding that the Americans "are chasing us all over the world".

In April, Maria Cajigal-Ramirez, a Cuban living in Austria, received an unusual letter from
her bank. It said that all her accounts at her local branch of Bawag PSK would be closed
because the US sanctions prohibit US companies to maintain business contacts with
Cuba, Cuban companies or individuals of Cuban nationality, wherever these may be
located or be domiciled. The bank said that this prohibition extends also to non-US
companies that are owned or controlled by US individuals or US companies. Incidentally,
a US-led consortium headed by New York-based Cerberus Capital Management had
bought the Bawag PSK bank in December 2006.

Mr Ramos recounted more chilling statistics. About 70 per cent of Cubans are born and
living entire lives under blockade. The cost of the 46-year blockade is calculated to be
$89 billion. It costs Cuba $1.6 billion annually. He said an overwhelming majority of the
192-member UN supports lifting of blockade. The support for Cuba has grown from 59
votes in 1992 to 183 last year. Cuba, he added, has survived almost 50 years of
blockade and will meet the American challenge with "courage and serenity."

He did not expect the next US President to be any more aggressive than Mr George
Bush. "There is a strong disenchantment with the blockade in the people and the
Congress of the US and this policy is condemned to failure," he said. Mr Ramos added
that Cuba had no complaint against India. "India has been very firm in the international
arena. It has condemned the blockade and supported the UN resolution," he said.

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