SPECIAL REPORT FROM RADIO HAVANA CUBA May 30th, 1997 E-mail: rhc@radiohc.org DENUNCIATIONS OF NEW ACTIONS AGAINST CUBA IN THE UNITED STATES On May 6th, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress passed ten legislative drafts, aimed at reinforcing the blockade against Cuba and fostering domestic subversion in Cuba. While in a number of cases, these amendments are additions to the Helms-Burton Law and in others, they modify earlier legislation, all these actions may be considered as yet another expression of the same scheme of aggression against Cuba which characterizes the Helms-Burton Law. Approved sections were included as amendments to the Foreign Service Reform Law. This law includes resources for foreign aid, the budget of the Department of State and other international programs, as well as the restructuring of the U.S. Foreign Service. Several of the ten bills adopted, the main features of which are attached, are additions to the Helms-Burton Law and others modify previous legislation -- but seen as a whole, they are part and parcel of the increase hostility and interventionist intentions codified into law by the Helms-Burton Law. Four main characteristics may be identified in this process: First: The secrecy with which it has been carried out, even in Congress itself, where several legislators linked to the Cuban issue were not even aware of its approval. The media, with the exception of what refers to the International Atomic Energy Agency, has been totally silent about this process. Second: The intention to constantly keep the Administration in a defensive position by demanding the submission of periodic reports, thus depriving it of the already narrow margin of discretion which it enjoyed regarding its policy towards Cuba. Third: Its contradiction with the "understanding" reached on April 11th with the European Union, including the U.S. promise to seek the modification of the Helms-Burton Law, giving it a larger degree of flexibility, specifically with regard to Chapter IV. Fourth: Linked with the above, the clear message it entails that the forces which sponsored the Law are not ready to allow its softening and are only in a position of modifying it in order to make it more intrusive and extraterritorial. The tactics of silence, previously used by the anti-Cuba lobby, facilitate the final approval of the amendments, as the arguments that may be raised against them will have to face a fait accompli, only after those amendments have already passed most of the bodies of the cumbersome Congressional legislative process with a certain level of approval. On the other hand, anti-Cuba lawmakers are already boasting that they are working on a new initiative to widen the effects of the Helms-Burton Law, by allowing the levying of taxes in the United States on third-country companies doing business with Cuba, and that those in non-compliance would be prosecuted in U.S. courts of law. Two additional draft legislations have also been circulated. They were prepared by the Foreign Relations Committee and tightened the Helms-Burton Law with respect to the power of the U.S. President to apply "waivers" to the legal demands embodied in Chapter III: 1. One of them totally removes such power as of June 1997. 2. The other continues to allow it provided that U.S. trade partners comply with seven specific conditions, including the withdrawal of any present or future challenge to the Helms-Burton Law before the WTO. The other conditions are of similar, extraterritorial nature and also violate the sovereignty of third countries. The aim of these new actions is to further heighten Washington's offensive against Cuba by increasing the control already exerted by Congress over decision-making with regard to U.S. policy towards our country. These intentions, if successful, would make the extraterritorial effects already imposed against Europe and the rest of the world more offensive, and allow no possibility whatsoever for either the present or future Administrations to introduce changes in such policy. There has been no reaction by the Administration with respect to these Congressional measures, nor has there been a response in complying with the commitments the U.S. entered into with its allies. Cuba denounces these developments before the international community, as they are once again a demonstration of the arrogant and hegemonistic character inherent in U.S. foreign policy, to the detriment of the key principles of international coexistence, enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and International Law. This policy against Cuba, to which the United States is attempting to make others join with baseless pretexts, is the greatest and most present danger facing the sovereignty of all States today. AMENDED SECTIONS OF HR-1486 FOREIGN POLICY REFORM ACT 1. Sec. 308: Withholding United States assistance to countries that aid the Government of Cuba. It defines, in further detail, what they consider as engaging in "nonmarket-based trade" with the Government of Cuba, which poses a reinforcement of the restrictions sanctioned in Title I of the Helms-Burton Law and tightens the restraints on trade with our country. It decrees that no later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the Act, the President shall withhold assistance to any government providing economic, development, or security assistance to Cuba or engaging in nonmarket-based trade. 2. Sec. 506: Availability of amounts for "Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (Libertad) Act of 1996 and the "Cuban Democracy Act of 1992." It allocates "not less" than 2 million U.S. dollars for 1998 and 1999 each, for the enactment of both acts, which will be made available, to a large extent, for financing counterrevolutionary groups engaged in domestic subversion. 3.Sec. 513: Requirement on assistance to the Russian Federation. It conditions assistance to the Russian Federation on refraining from assisting Cuba in nuclear matters. To be able to grant assistance, the President must determine and report to the Congress that the Russian Federation has terminated all official cooperation with Cuba and has taken all appropriate steps to prevent cooperation with, and transfers of goods and technologies to, the Juragua project. 4. Sec. 577: Withholding of assistance to countries that provide nuclear fuel to Cuba. Withholding of allocated amounts to countries that sell nuclear fuel to Cuba in the future, for an amount equal to the aggregate value of nuclear fuel, related assistance and credits provided by that country to Cuba. 5. Sec. 705: Local assistance to human rights groups in Cuba. It amends Section 109 of the Helms-Burton Law by adding formal specifications providing a better coverage in the use of funds for those purposes. It enacts a process of certification by the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, providing the U.S. representative with powers to monitor illegal activities. 6. Sec. 1106: United States Informational, Educational, and Cultural Programs. It earmarks more than 22 million U.S. dollars in 1998 and 1999 to the Cuban Radio and Television Broadcasting Program. 7. Sec. 1261: Reports to Congress concerning Cuban emigration policies. It requires that the Secretary of State prepare a report every six months, accounting for the fulfillment of the United States-Cuba Migratory Agreements of September 1994 and May 1995. Thus, the Congress is entitled to monitor one of the few areas that the Executive still has under its control. 8. Sec. 1412: Authorities of the Broadcasting Board of Governors. It introduces a formal technicality in the "United States International Broadcasting Act" regarding the broadcasts to Cuba of Radio Marti and TV Marti. 9. Sec. 1705: Reports on determinations under Title IV of the "Liberty Act." It amends Section 401 of the Helms-Burton Law in order to exert stricter control on the denials of visas to those "trafficking" in expropriated properties. The Secretary of State shall submit of detailed report every three months thereafter, on the implementation of Title IV, providing a list of data on the subject of penalties, and specifying the paragraphs to be reported in a classified or unclassified way. 10. Sec. 1709: Programs or projects of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Cuba. It conditions the authorization of U.S. shares of assistance to IAEA on the termination of its assistance to Cuba and specifies that the Secretary of State must oppose such projects in our country. In addition, it requires submitting annual reports on the issue to the Congress. * [c] 1997. Radio Habana Cuba All rights reserved Articles cannot be reproduced, reprinted or published in any system without the consent of RHC. 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