New Delhi
14 April 2007
When Maria Cajigal-Ramirez received an unusual letter from her bank on April 10 she
laughed it away. According to the letter, all her accounts at her local branch of Bawag
PSK in the city of Frankenmarkt in Austria would be closed. She told her husband that the
bank was probably worried about the implication of her birthplace, Guantanamo Bay, site
of the high-security US military prison for terror suspects. She enquired, only to be told
again that the bank did not want to do business with those originating from Cuba.
Maria is not alone. About 100 other Cubans living in Austria have been told so by the
bank. Bawag PSK has since acknowledged that it told a Cuban-born client to take her
business elsewhere. In an e-mailed statement, it said the United States sanctions
prohibit "US companies or consortiums to maintain business contacts with Cuba, Cuban
companies or individuals of Cuban nationality, wherever these may be located or be
domiciled .... This prohibition extends also to non-US ... companies that are owned or
controlled by US individuals or US companies." Bawag PSK is the fourth largest bank in
Austria. A US-led consortium headed by New York-based Cerberus Capital Management
bought it in December 2006.
"I feel anguish and disappointment .... I think I am a victim of discrimination .... I have
been a customer at BAWAG for the last the nine years. This is a question of violating my
human rights,'' Maria complained. She was born in Cuba. She is an Austrian citizen
today but she still holds her old passport, a document she says she does not want but
cannot return because Cuban authorities refuse to revoke her old citizenship. (A US
official has been quoted in media as saying that those who retained Cuban citizenship
even while acquiring a new one were still subject to The Cuban Assets Control
Regulations prohibiting US citizens and corporations from doing business with Cuba or
Cuban nationals.)
Maria is the latest victim of the "economic war" unleashed by the US against the
government and people of Cuba. "[It is a] complex web of economic persecution ...
economic war," Minister of Foreign Relations of Cuba Felipe Perez Roque said in New
Delhi on April 12 before wrapping up his two-day visit to India. The world had not heard
about Maria Cajigal-Ramirez until after Mr Roque left India but on more than one
occasion he highlighted the US's aggressive designs on his country and showcased the
resilience, and resistance, of his compatriots.
The 42-year-old minister said that the US blockade has cost Cuba over 86 billion dollars.
The blockade prevents Cuba from exporting to, and importing from, the US. It prevents
Cuba from receiving American tourists. The Toricelli Act of 1992 says vessels cannot
travel to the US after calling at a Cuban port. "Therefore shipping lines don't want to
come to Cuba. Those which dare, ask for two times the freight charge," he said. Nestle
has to certify that the chocolate it exports to the US does not contain Cuban sugar.
Similarly a car sold in the US should not have Cuban nickel. (Cuba's nickel deposits are
among the largest in the world.) Similarly, the Helms-Burton Act penalises companies
and individuals who make investments in Cuba.
"Last 17 years [we have been] compelled to endure [the blockade.] Between 1989 and
1993, our GDP (Gross Domestic Product) fell by 35 per cent," Mr Roque recalled. Cuba's
foreign trade plunged by 85 per cent and the purchasing power of the Cubans dropped by
30 per cent. "Those were tough years for the Cuban people ... they went 18 to 20 hours
without electricity, there was food shortage, medicines were out of stock, agriculture
came to a halt but we decided to forge ahead," he told academics, students and certain
members of the Latin American diplomatic corps at a function held at Jamia Millia
Islamia University.
He referred certain statistics to highlight the remarkable results. Infant mortality has
reduced; it is only six per one thousand births today. Life expectancy has improved to
77 years. Tourism has become the main industry and Cuba today attracts 2.5 million
tourists per year. Almost of half of the oil consumed in Cuba is produced in Cuba and
exports of biotechnology has grown. He went on to state that three thousand Cubans
have been killed in terrorist acts "organised and financed by the US" and over two
thousand Cubans have been rendered physically disabled in terrorist acts.
"Today we can give assurance that most difficult days [have been] left behind ... we
successfully resisted ... our economic recovery is irreversible," a combative Mr Roque
said. "We won't surrender," he said to thunderous applause from the audeince. "Cuba
has not been vanquished ... we won't be defeated ... [we will forge ahead] without
relinquishing dreams." The minister didn't forget to remind anybody who would listen
that Cubans "share what we have with others ... despite being a poor country." There are
an estimated 32 thousand students from 116 countries studying "free of cost" in Cuba
today. Over 20 thousand of those students are pursuing a degree in medicine.
"Anywhere where [there is] fight for justice, independence, Cuban people will be willing
to contribute," he asserted.
He added that the ailing President Fidel Castro was getting better. "He has gained
weight, he is doing physical exercise regularly. We feel optimistic. The more serious
moment of illness has been left behind. He is consulted on important decisions. He is
improving considerably," Mr Roque told a news conference at the Embassy of Cuba in
New Delhi. He observed that the law and the Constitution mandated that the First Vice
President will replace the President if the latter is "absent". "So he (Fidel) is to be
replaced by Raul ... not because of his last name but because of his contribution to
resistance. Raul has the support of people ... national unity will keep Cuba socialist [and]
independent," he said about Cuba's succession plan.
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