Cuba Expresses Confidence in UN's Overwhelming Condemnation of US Blockade

Workers' Daily Internet Edition: Article Index :

Cuba Expresses Confidence in UN's Overwhelming Condemnation of US Blockade

Declaration on the Criminal and Genocidal Blockade Imposed by the United States of America Against Cuba

Repercussions of the US Blockade on Health Care in Cuba

Cubans Prepare for October 21 Municipal Elections

Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said on October 3 that he expects an overwhelming victory at the United Nations General Assembly on October 30, when Cuba will present a resolution condemning the almost 50-year-old blockade imposed by the United States against the Cuban people.

Addressing hundreds of students and professors at the Plaza Agramonte of the University of Havana, Perez Roque expressed his confidence in an overwhelming triumph that will show the world's support of the island's struggle against the blockade and their rejection of the US Government's genocidal policy against the Cuban people, which constitutes a flagrant violation of international law.

He recalled that for the 16th time since 1992, Cuba will submit for discussion and approval the report "Necessity of Ending the Economic, Commercial and Financial Blockade Imposed by the United States against Cuba", which last year received the support of 183 countries.

"We submit this report hoping that it will help the world learn not only about the history of the blockade and its consequences over the last year, but also about the exemplary resistance of the Cuban people," stressed Cuba's top diplomat who added that in 48 years, the US blockade has cost the island economic losses to the tune of $89 billion.

"Cuba will not give up. We will continue bringing this issue to the United Nations because we are confident that the Empire will not be able to ignore the world's demand forever, as it happened with the Apartheid regime and the unjust imprisonment of Mandela," Perez Roque said.

Ernesto Fernandez, member of the National Bureau of the Cuban Young Communist League, read a declaration of the Cuban youth against the US blockade at the rally. An audiovisual campaign against the blockade that will soon be broadcast by Cuban media and that was designed by talented designers, publicists, journalists and students, was also presented at the rally. 

(Source: Agencia Cubana de Noticias)

- National Peoples' Power Assembly, International Relations Commission, Republic of Cuba, October 5, 2007 -

In a memorandum from the United States Department of State dated on June 24, 1959, the essence of the policy which was already being carried out against Cuba was stated. At that time, they were considering the lifting of the Cuban sugar quota on the US market in order to bring about that "the sugar industry would promptly suffer an abrupt decline, causing widespread further unemployment. The large numbers of people thus forced out of work would begin to go hungry." At the same meeting, Secretary of State, Christian Herter, was defining these initial actions as "economic war measures".

Several months later, on April 6, 1960, at a meeting headed by the President of the United States himself, a document, adopted by the State Department, was being discussed which textually read: "The majority of Cubans support Castro. There is no effective political opposition in Cuba the only predictable measure we have today to alienate internal support for the Revolution is through disillusionment and desperation, based on dissatisfaction and economic duress. Every possible means should be undertaken promptly to weaken the economic life of Cuba, to decrease real salaries, to bring about hunger, desperation and the overthrow of government."

Since 1959, over the course of almost 50 years, the people of Cuba have been victims of this cruel and criminal policy that has been imposed, maintained and toughened by all successive US administrations, right up to the present day.

Never before have any people had to withstand such a long siege by the most powerful nation recorded in history. Moreover, never have any people resisted so great an aggression with such heroism, without capitulating, without renouncing their independence and sovereignty, or their right to construct the political, economic and social system of their choice.

The recent report presented by Cuba at the United Nations General Assembly irrefutably demonstrates the enormous impact the blockade has on the lives of every Cuban man and woman, two-thirds of whom were born and have grown up under this irrational and demented policy.

For fifteen years, in overwhelming votes at the UN General Assembly, the international community has expressed its view of the need to put an end to this monstrosity of the United States government; nevertheless, successive US administrations have turned a deaf ear on this universal outcry, and far from making any steps towards its total elimination, have systematically reinforced its instrumentation and ever more rigorous application.

The Torricelli Act and the Helms Burton Law, with their eminently extra-territorial natures, and later, President Bush's Plan for the re-colonisation of Cuba in May 2004, in its aim to bring about the internalisation of its illegal policy, have intensified pressures and sanctions against governments, banks and companies of third countries, achieving in several cases, as the report circulated by Cuba indicates, an imposition of their will and a bringing about of an effective application through blackmail and threats.

The systematic application of this economic war which has already cost our country more than 89,000 million dollars, together with the increase of all manner of aggression, by open and extended state terrorism, have resulted in thousands of victims among the Cuban population and have been detrimental to the most elementary right to life, attempting to destroy it through hunger and disease, in a genuine act of genocide.

The Permanent Commission for International Relations of the National People's Power Assembly, reflecting the express will of all the deputies in our National Assembly and of the people we legitimately represent, calls on all parliamentarians in the world and on their legislative bodies, to denounce and demand the end of this policy of extermination which has been in place for almost 50 years.

Meanwhile, in spite of the blockade and all aggression, the Cuban people will continue their struggle to construct, day by day, a country that has a greater sense of solidarity and which, once and for all, achieves every justice.

Havana, October 5, 2007

- Permanent Mission of the Republic of Cuba to the UN, October 10, 2007 -

The vulnerable healthcare sector has been severely affected. During the past year the damage to the Cuban health service caused by the blockade in the period covered by this report is estimated at over30 million dollars.

Medical institutions that provide treatment free of charge to the entire population have been affected in several departments: emergency services, care of critically ill, surgical units and other specialised services (adult and paediatric), care of mothers-to-be, due to lack of access to latest-generation diagnostic aids and medication, mostly produced in the United States. Another factor is reduced ability to obtain 'Made in USA' consumables, spare parts and essential equipment. For the same reason, health promotion and disease prevention initiatives have been held back, suffice it to mention only a few examples:

* Cuba's Ramón Pando Ferrer ophthalmology institute was unable to acquire equipment needed for studying the retina, marketed by Humphreys-Zeiss, and the drug Visudyne, used to treat macular degeneration (a medical condition that can result in blindness) among the elderly and marketed by Novartis. Both companies, being American-owned and not being licensed for the purpose by the US Treasury Department, expressed they were unable to export to Cuba. Studies of the retinas of the patients concerned were seriously affected, causing delays in decisions as to the therapy needed.

* Other areas of Cuban medicine affected by the blockade include anaesthesia of children undergoing surgery. Cuba cannot acquire the Sevoflurane inhalatory anaesthetic, patented with the trade name 'Sevorane', which has become the standard drug for administering general anaesthesia to children. The patent is owned by Abbott Laboratories, a US concern which, in compliance with the sanctions legislation, does not sell to Cuba. Cuba has no alternative but to use inferior substitutes, purchased in more remote markets at, consequently, higher cost.

* For the same reason, the US Saint-Jude firm suspended, among others, its sales of prosthetic valves - cheaper and better quality - to the William Soler paediatric heart hospital. The patients affected are children with cardiac arrhythmia who need pacemakers that were obtained via this route.

* US pressure has induced other firms to suspend sales to Cuban concerns, and in other cases involved the cancellation of licences. This happened in the case of Med Tronic, which was compelled to stop selling external pacemakers to Cuba, affecting children suffering from congenital or acquired arrhythmia who need this device.

* A complex situation as regards disease-vector control in Cuba at the end of 2006 called for urgent purchases at a higher cost than would have been incurred if these supplies could have been sourced in the US market. The extra cost in terms of higher prices and increased freight charges totalled around $845,000.

The following are some of the many cases in the public-health sector that illustrate the extraterritorial nature of the sanctions:

* Following its acquisition by America's General Electric, the Finnish firm Datex-Ohmeda, manufacturer of excellent anaesthesia and multi-purpose monitoring equipment, with which Cuba maintained business relations, announced that it was banned from supplying equipment or spare parts to Cuba, on pain of prosecution by the US Department of Justice.

* Cuba was prohibited from obtaining equipment and other products normally purchased by our Oncology & Radiology Institute from the regional division of Merck tasked with analytical chemistry, when it was absorbed by a US corporation. The results included repercussions on cancer and other patients.

New York, 10 October 2007

On July 9, the Cuban Council of state decreed that nation-wide municipal elections will take place on October 21. Since that time, the organisations of the Cuban people have undertaken to ensure maximum participation of the citizens and the smooth functioning of the process. Municipal assemblies are elected every two and half years, the last one was held on April 17, 2005.

On Sunday, October 14, Cuba will hold a country-wide overall assessment of the functioning of polling stations with a view to the upcoming round of municipal elections. Voting is scheduled for October 21 and will involve more than 15,200 constituencies and 37,700 polling stations island-wide.

National Electoral Commission President María Esther Reus said the test, which will begin at 7:00 am, is expected to review coordination among elements in the process, ensuring the usual transparency and democratic spirit of elections in Cuban society.

Training for the people involved will be provided that day via national television, allowing the general public to also become familiar with the process. Notably, voters can vote for only one candidate in every constituency. A candidate must have 50 per cent or more of the votes to win. In constituencies where none of the candidates achieve a sufficient number of votes to be declared the winner, a second round of elections will be held on October 28 between the top two candidates.

Commission Vice President Rubén Pérez noted that 320,000 young people will be exercising their right to vote for the first time. Cuban electoral law automatically adds youth older than 16 years old in the electoral roll. Any citizen 16 and over can nominate, elect or be elected to local government posts. Perez told a local newspaper that local commissions are still updating the electoral roll house to house.

Prensa Latina reported on October 2 that the election is at the stage of public exhibition of biographies and photos of candidates. Cuban electoral law states that propaganda campaigns are limited to one-page biographies with a curriculum vitae. According to the same law, the Communist Party of Cuba does not participate in the nomination process. Party members may be candidates, but must stand as individuals.

Candidates in each of the 15,097 electoral districts located in the 169 municipalities were chosen at open neighbourhood assemblies organised by election officials and the neighbourhood-based Committees for the Defence of the Revolution (CDRs). The nomination period ended in the last week of September, with the result that 37,328 candidates had been selected. The electoral law stipulates that in each voting district there must be a minimum of two and a maximum of eight candidates. Their curriculum vitae have been publicly announced so the people can compare their merits. The information is placed in public areas such as shops, drug stores or service places along with the list of candidates so that the public may consult or correct any errors. The information will remain on display until the October 21 elections. Voter registration lists are also in public places, so that any Cuban with the right to vote can correct any mistakes in these registers before the election.

Those standing for election on the island are nominated neither because of their personal wealth nor for being the best fundraisers. Neither do they end up on corporate boards after leaving office as a payback for bending to special interest groups. The concept of a paid politician is absent in Cuba and even the national parliament representatives derive no financial compensation for their civic work. The main function of the municipal delegates is to represent their voters' interests to the government. They can be recalled by the people they represent if they do not serve satisfactorily.

The election will take place in two stages. Those elected in this first stage will become part of the municipal assemblies and have the opportunity to get a seat in the provincial entities and the national assembly in a later, second election. City council members serve two-and-a-half-year terms while provincial delegates and national parliament representatives are elected every five years.

As in most countries, Cuban electoral law is subject to constitutional amendments, as in 1992, when it was decided that provincial delegates and national parliament members should be elected by voters just like local representatives.

Since the current Cuban electoral system took effect in 1976, voter turnout has been 95 per cent and above, one of the world's highest for non-obligatory voting. This contrasts to municipal elections in the United States for example, which often draw less than a third of the registered voters.

National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon said in a 2005 interview, "...the primary emphasis [in the Cuban electoral system] is on the participation of the people. I would be very concerned if the level of involvement declined, if the public were to grow indifferent toward their government."

According to a April 2005 report in Granma, women comprise 23.37 percent of the local representatives, up from 8 per cent in 1976, indicating that there is still progress to be made.

Municipal governments, called People's Power Assemblies, have a president and vice president similar to a mayor and vice-mayor. The number of electoral districts in the municipality determines the number of city council members, known as delegates or representatives. The minimum number is 30 and some assemblies in the more densely populated areas have as many as 80 to 100 or more members. A rural voting district may have as few as 300 constituents while that figure can reach 4,000 in densely populated urban areas. These are much smaller than most wards or districts in the United States. Cuban city council members are empowered to elect the mayor and vice-mayor from within their ranks and must do so by secret ballot within 21 days after the elections.

The Cuban system puts great importance on citizen accessibility to their council people, thus explaining the smaller electoral districts and greater number of representatives than in local governments in other countries.

Among the city council member's responsibilities is to receive complaints and suggestions about public services and social problems, and vote on a proposed municipal budget which then goes on to the Provincial and National Assemblies for review and final approval. Then, it's one of their jobs to see that the corresponding institutions implement budgeted projects.

In a country subjected to nearly a half-century of economic, financial and commercial blockade from the world's greatest military and economic power, the limitations faced by Cuba make the work of the city council member far from easy.

However, creative efforts to resolve local problems with the limited resources at hand and making sure the municipality is duly serviced by the country's many social programs, are the key to being a successful representative. Election officials note that on an average, 46.5 per cent of the delegates are re-elected, some for multiple terms.

A novel feature of Cuban elections is the presence of 5th to 9th grade students at the polling stations. Besides getting acquainted with this important civic responsibility and symbolically guarding the ballot boxes, their function is to help voters with disabilities that request assistance.

In the 2007 municipal elections, polls will be open from 7:00 am until 6:00 pm; however anyone still in line at the scheduled time of closure is allowed to cast their ballot. The manual vote count is done in public immediately following the closing of the polls.

(Sources: Prensa Latina, Juventud Rebelde, Circles Robinson, Associated Press)