Cuba's UN Statement/Draft Resolution Against Embargo-Nov 27, 2001 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit PERMANENT MISSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF CUBA TO THE UNITED NATIONS 315 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10016 Tel: 212-689-7215 * Fax: 212-689-9073 STATEMENT DELIVERED BY H.E. MR. FELIPE PÉREZ ROQUE, MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF CUBA, TO INTRODUCE THE DRAFT RESOLUTION ON THE "NECESSITY OF ENDING THE ECONOMIC, COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL EMBARGO IMPOSED BY THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AGAINST CUBA," UNDER AGENDA ITEM 34 OF THE FIFTY-SIXTH SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY NEW YORK, 27 NOVEMBER, 2001 Mr. President: Some peculiar news traveled around the world in recent days. For the first time ever in over 40 years, the Government of the United States has granted exceptional authorization for the sale to Cuba of certain quantities of food, medicines and raw materials for their production. Just this time, Cuba will be able to pay US suppliers directly in US dollars. Arrangements could not be made, however, for Cuban ships to transport the goods from US ports. So intricate is the web of legal prohibitions derived from the blockade against Cuba that not even the combined goodwill of both governments could overcome such obstacle. Ships from the United States or third countries will handle the operation. On 7 November, the Government of the United States expressed its deep grief and concern for the Cuban people over the extensive havoc wreaked by Hurricane Michelle as it wound its way through Cuban territory - and declared its willingness to immediately assess the need for assistance in order to provide potential humanitarian assistance. Such unusual gesture was properly appreciated by Cuba. Nothing like this had ever happened before in over 40 years of tense relations between the two countries. Cuba responded by requesting that on this exceptional occasion the Government of the United States allow Cuban state-run companies to expeditiously purchase from the United States certain quantities of food, medicines and raw materials for their production - in order to replenish the country's stocks as quickly as possible in preparation for any future natural disasters. Cuba also asked for authorization to pay for these goods in cash, in US dollars or in any other hard currency - and to use Cuban ships to transport the goods, as this would be the most practical, rapid and cost-effective option for Cuba. Diplomatic exchanges, unlike many others in the past, were devoid of tension and characterized, above all, by a sense of respect and a spirit of cooperation. This brings up a natural question: why have so many special negotiations been required for something that constitutes a simple, common transaction for the rest of the world? Why were so many special formalities needed for Cuba to buy from the United States erythromycin for children, or vitamin A, or hydrocortisone, or rice, or powdered milk? How could such a meticulous and perfectly airtight system have been created over the years to prevent an entire people from acquiring essential foodstuffs and medicines, technology and spare parts, medical equipment and scientific information? Could anyone ever explain - on the basis of ethics, international law and justice - the obsessive continuation of the economic, financial and commercial blockade imposed by the United States against Cuba for over four decades? Yet now we see, on this occasion at least, that Cuba has been able to make a purchase from the United States. Does this signal the end of the blockade? No, it does not. This General Assembly must never make the mistake of interpreting this exception as the rule. Does it even mark the beginning of the end of the blockade? I could not say that for sure. Common sense is elusive at times for some politicians. Would Cuba be willing to make other purchases under these conditions? It would be desirable, but it is practically impossible. As we have stated before, it is implausible for a country to buy items from the United States in the absence of normal trading relations, if it cannot sell its goods and services there as well. It is only under these special and exceptional circumstances that we have been able to do so - with no reciprocal trade whatsoever, overcoming absurd obstacles and seeking alternatives to circumvent the countless laws and regulations that specifically curtail relations and trade between Cuba and the United States today. No normal trading relations between the two countries can be expected in the future unless the anachronistic US blockade against Cuba is completely lifted. Now then, does Cuba want the end of the blockade? Yes. The blockade is the main obstacle to Cuba's economic development today - and is responsible for the hardships and suffering of millions of Cubans. Does Cuba want the reestablishment of normal and mutually respectful relations with the United States? Yes. And it is ready to do so. It does not nurture any futile hatred or hopes of revenge. We are a noble people with highly developed political awareness - and we believe that millions of US citizens and the majority of the Cubans who live in the United States are also victims of the unjustifiable prohibitions of the blockade. For the blockade to be lifted, is Cuba willing to make compromises that would impinge on its principles? No - and a thousand times over, no. We know the price of independence: we have fought for it for 130 years. We have already tasted the sweetness of freedom - and there is no power in the world that can make us relinquish it. The lifting of the blockade and the end of the economic war against Cuba would require the Government of the United States to adopt the following decisions: 1. To repeal the Helms-Burton Act, whose numerous aggressive measures against Cuba include heavy sanctions for businesspeople from third countries engaged in business with Cuba. We know some of these businesspeople; they and their families have been denied visas to travel to the United States, but they have maintained their operations in Cuba with dignity. 2. To repeal the Torricelli Act, whose measures include prohibiting ships that have called at a Cuban port from entering US ports. The Act also prevents subsidiaries of US companies based in third countries from selling goods to Cuba; up until 1992, our country purchased some US$ 700 million in food and medicines from these subsidiaries on an annual basis. 3. To eliminate the absurd prohibition by which goods imported by the United States from any other country cannot contain any Cuban raw materials whatsoever. Is it really justifiable to demand of a Japanese car manufacturer that in order to export to the United States it must certify that the steel used contains no Cuban nickel? Is it justifiable to demand of a Canadian candy company that its products contain no Cuban sugar? 4. To stop the relentless persecution currently carried out around the world by US embassies and government agencies against any potential business with Cuba - and against any attempt by Cuba to enter into a new market or receive credits. 5. To grant Cuba access to the US and international financial system. If Cuba had gained access to the US$ 53 billion loaned by international and regional financial institutions to Latin America and the Caribbean between 1997 and 2000, it would have received loans roughly amounting to US$ 1.2 billion - under conditions that are incomparably more favorable than those that Cuba can currently obtain. 6. To allow Cuba to use the US dollar for its external transactions, not only with US companies, but also with companies based in third countries - something that is currently prohibited under the blockade regulations. As a result, Cuba is constantly forced to carry out currency exchange transactions, thereby losing money in the fluctuations of exchange rates. 7. To authorize Cuba to make free purchases, like any other country, in the US market. This could account for annual purchases of over US$ 1 billion - if only one-quarter of Cuba's current imports were to come from the United States, at better prices and with considerable savings in freight and insurance costs and greater ease of transportation. 8. To authorize Cuba to freely export, like any other country, to the US market. This would not only benefit Cuba, by accessing a new market, but it would also give the people of the United States access to Cuban products - like our famous cigars or the vaccine against meningococcal meningitis (the only one of its kind in the world). 9. To allow US citizens to travel to Cuba freely as tourists. This would allow Cuba to welcome at least a million and a half visitors, who in turn wound have the chance to travel to one of the safest, most hospitable countries in the world. 10. To return the Cuban assets frozen in US banks, a part of which has already been unjustly and arbitrarily stolen. 11. To authorize US companies to invest in Cuba - where they would receive non-discriminatory treatment in relation to other foreign investors, with all the guarantees established by the Cuban legislation. 12. To establish regulations for the protection of Cuban trademarks and patents in the United States, in accordance with the international legislation on intellectual property rights. When this happens, there will be no possibility of such dishonest acts as, for example, the theft of the Cuban rum brand name Havana Club by a US company. 13. To eliminate the discriminatory measures currently preventing Cubans living in the United States from traveling to Cuba freely and helping their relatives on the island from the economic standpoint. Cubans are the only immigrant community in the United States subjected to these measures today. 14. To negotiate with Cuba a fair and honorable arrangement to provide compensation for the nearly 6,000 US companies and citizens whose properties were nationalized in the first years of the Revolution, as part of a sovereign step essential for the country's socio-economic development. It was, in fact, the blockade that prevented US citizens from receiving the relevant compensation. Cuba recognizes their rights - and would be willing to reach an agreement that also takes into account the extremely burdensome economic and human hardships inflicted on our country by the blockade. Mr. President: An end to the policy of aggression against Cuba - relentlessly and rigorously implemented by ten successive US administrations over the course of four decades - and the establishment of normal relations between our two countries, would require the Government of the United States to adopt the following decisions: 1. The annulment of the Cuban Adjustment Act, which is responsible for the deaths of thousands of illegal immigrants, including children. The latest tragedy took place last week. An alien smuggling operation ended in the shipwreck of a boat that had set out from Miami and illegally picked up a group of people off the Cuban coast - with a tragic toll of over 30 deaths, including numerous children. At a time like this, when the United States is stepping up the protection of its borders, its refusal to help regulate the migratory traffic between our two countries would be puzzlingly contradictory. Cuba has proposed a substantial expansion of the migration accord currently in force - and is waiting for a response. 2. Cooperation with Cuba in the fight against drug trafficking. Today, there is very limited cooperation in this area. Cuba has proposed a substantial increase in this cooperation, including the signing of a drug enforcement agreement - and is now awaiting a response from the United States. 3. An end to the illegal TV and radio broadcasts against Cuba. How can it be justified someday that the Government of the United States devoted almost US$ 400 million to this subversive program in order to pander to the extremist minority in Miami profiting from this funding, when that money could have been spent, for example, on computers for public schools in that country's poor neighborhoods? 4. An end to the unjust and arbitrary inclusion of Cuba on the US State Department's list of terrorist states. This is an outrage to the Cuban people, who have in fact, as everyone knows, been the victims of countless terrorist acts organized and financed with total impunity from US territory. 5. An end to the attempts to foster subversion within Cuba, even involving the use of large sums of money from the US federal budget. An end to the campaigns of slander and pressure waged against our country in international agencies. An end to the impunity enjoyed by terrorist groups that have undertaken terrorist acts against Cuba from Miami. 6. The relinquishment of the continued occupation - against the sovereign will of the Cuban people - of the territory occupied by the Guantánamo Naval Base. Although there are relations of respect and cooperation between the US and Cuban military there - perhaps foreshadowing the potential for future official relations between our two countries, and although it seems that the years when young Cubans were murdered from the base are now behind us - Cuba has not renounced the goal of someday regaining its sovereignty over this territory through political and peaceful means. If this were to happen, it would mark the end of a bitter chapter in the relations between Cuba and the United States. Mr. President: The blockade imposed by the United States against Cuba must be lifted. The resolutions consistently adopted by this Assembly since 1992 cannot continue to be ignored. The blockade is illegal. It violates the Charter of the United Nations - and infringes on international trade and the freedom of navigation. It imposes sanctions on businesspeople from third countries, which is a blatantly extraterritorial conduct. The blockade has neither ethical nor legal justification. It violates the Geneva Conventions. It deprives the Cuban people of access to food and medicine, something prohibited by International Law even in times of war. The blockade does not enjoy majority support in the United States. In the Senate and the House of Representatives, there is obvious consensus in favor of changing this policy. The media, the churches, the business sector and average citizens have increasingly come to question why a country that does not pose any threat to the United States and does not consider itself an enemy of its people is nonetheless treated like an enemy. The blockade violates the rights of the people of the United States - in order to serve the vested interests of an unscrupulous minority that has not even hesitated to use violence and terrorism against the Cuban people. The blockade violates the rights of the Cubans who live in the United States. It prevents them from maintaining normal relations with their families in Cuba. The blockade has caused economic damage to Cuba of over US$ 70 billion, in addition to even higher sums resulting from the human injuries and economic damage inflicted on our people throughout more than 40 years of armed aggressions, sabotages and terrorism - for which our country has justly demanded compensation. The blockade is rejected by the international community. Last year, for the ninth consecutive time, this Assembly called for the lifting of the blockade against Cuba with 167 votes in favor of the relevant resolution. The blockade is the gravest violation of the human rights of the Cuban people. The blockade is maintained as a result of US domestic policy. It is said that the minority demanding the continuation of the blockade has electoral influence - and uses its money and votes to fight any changes. It is said that this is the way politics works in the United States - and the rules simply have to be accepted. And I wonder: can such reasons really be used to justify the attempt to force an entire people into surrender through hunger and disease? Mr. President: Those who interpret these words as a lamentation are mistaken. Those who confuse our lack of hatred with weakness are mistaken. Those who believe that the people of Cuba can be forced into surrender are mistaken. Those who think that we Cubans are willing to give up our independence and our freedom are mistaken. Those who imagine that we Cubans will give up the social justice achieved are mistaken. In the name of the Cuban people, in the name of International Law, in the name of reason, in the name of justice, I ask the General Assembly of the United Nations to express once again its support for the effective ending of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States against Cuba. Thank you very much. Official Translation - Nov 27, 2001 ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= rhc-eng-24120 2001-Nov-27 17:53:50