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Vol. 77/No. 45      December 16, 2013

 
Embargo forces closing of
Cuba’s US consular service
 
BY EMMA JOHNSON  
The Cuban government has been forced to suspend its consular services in the United States, the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, D.C., announced Nov. 26, holding up travel to and from the island. The suspension is a consequence of the decades-long trade and financial embargo imposed by Washington on Cuba.

On July 12, the Buffalo-based M&T Bank informed the Interests Section that it would no longer provide banking services and gave the Interests Section and the Cuban Permanent Mission to the United Nations a limited period to close all accounts and find a new bank.

“Due to the restrictions still in force, derived from the U.S. policy of economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba, and despite the numerous efforts made with the Department of State and several banks, it has been impossible for the Cuban Interests Section to find a U.S. or international bank with branches in the U.S. to operate bank accounts of the Cuban diplomatic missions,” said the Interests Section in a press release.

In 1960, President Dwight Eisenhower initiated what became an almost total economic, trade and financial embargo, as well as a ban on U.S. citizens traveling to Cuba, all of which have been maintained by every U.S. president since.

“During the government of President Obama, the blockade has been intensified, particularly in the financial sector,” Cuba’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Rodríguez told the U.N. General Assembly Oct. 29 before representatives of 188 nations voted to condemn the U.S. embargo on Cuba for the 22nd year in a row. Only the U.S. and Israel were opposed, with the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau, effectively U.S. colonies, abstaining.

The financial sanctions include fining banks that perform transactions that Washington sees as violations of the embargo. One example is the $619 million fine the U.S. Treasury Department levied against the Netherlands ING Bank last year.

International conventions stipulate that “the receiving state must provide all facilities to the diplomatic missions, including consular offices, to carry out their functions.” A bilateral agreement between Cuba and the U.S. from 1977 reaffirms adherence to these conventions.

“We cannot force a private bank to provide services to a diplomatic mission,” the State Department said to CNN Nov. 27.
 
 
Related articles:
‘Proud to know Ramón Labañino, a person of values and principles’
‘They don’t understand what we’re ready to fight and die for’
Who are the Cuban Five?
 
 
 
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