British MPs Reject US Cuba Policy

[Judi Lynn]

British MPs Reject US Cuba Policy

London, Feb 5 (Prensa Latina) British members of parliament demanded their government to strongly reject the application of an extraterritorial law of the US against Cuba in Great Britain, said The Guardian on Monday.
(snip/...)

The Guardian revealed that last month freelance journalist Tom Fawthrop, who has written for the Guardian and the Economist, was puzzled that he had not been paid for an article in the Sydney Morning Herald that he had written about the Cuban health service.

On enquiring what had happened, the Citibank Global answered that due to US sanctions, the payment was stopped by the Office of Foreign Asset Controls which had demanded details of Cuban doctors and also purpose of this article.

Something similar occurred to US journalist Ann Louise Bardach, author who wrote the book Cuba Confidential, was also puzzled that she had not received payment for consultancy work on the Channel Four Film, 638 Ways to Kill Castro.

Bardach took the matter up with the production company in London and it transpired that the payment had indeed been sent but had been held up in the US because the word "Cuba" appeared in reference to the payment.

The Guardian also reports that the fact the Cuba Solidarity Campaign, a UK based NGO, was restricted from buying a Dell computer for use in their north London offices, "illustrates the far reaching effects of a blockade that is increasingly imposing US bigotry and absurdity onto the lives of UK citizens," said Rob Miller of Cuba Solidarity.
(snip/...)

~~~~ link ~~~~

[Judi Lynn]

1. The same aspects of US extra-territorial sanctions are also being used

in Norway, and meeting resistance there, according to articles we've seen lately. There's a thread about it which was moved to Editorials:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x261221#261336

You may remember the same thing happened with the Sheraton Hotel in Mexico City when a US organization had an agreement to meet with Cubans there, and _Bush's administration contacted Sheraton, had them thrown out, and forwarded their money to the U.S. Treasury.

It would seem more people are speaking out against this now, although it's been going on for years, apparently.

[roody]

2. The USA is pathetic.

[Mika]

3. Censoring folks who write about Cuba's health system.

But.. but.. but.. the Cubaphobes constantly mewl that Cuba can trade with any country (except the US).

This story illustrates the extra territorial nature of the US sanctions on Cuba, to the point of denying even reports to be published or paid for in non US publications.

It is bigotry and an absurdity.

At what point will the rest of the world get sick of this kind of American crap, turn the tables and start sanctions on the US?

[IndianaGreen]

9. Some day Cuba will be free... like Americans are

and only the rich Cubans will enjoy the benefits of a fine health care system, while everyone else will labour under an HMO.

[ProudDad]

13. Shit, It's worse than that

15% of the population doesn't have ANY health care at all in the good ole' usa!!!

And nixon's (ooops, bush's) new budget makes that things even worse...

[Judi Lynn]

4. Washington prevents U.S. cyclists from competing in Cuba

Havana. February 6, 2007

Washington prevents U.S. cyclists from competing in Cuba

HAVANA, February 5 (PL).—The U.S. government has refused to grant visas to U.S. cyclists invited to the 32nd Tour of Cuba, say the organizers of the traditional tour.

José Peláez, head of the Cuban Cycling Federation, confirmed to PL that Washington is blocking the usual presence of its cyclists, who are still demanding their right to race in the upcoming classic.

“The U.S. Federation told us that it was having difficulties with Treasury Department permits, but is still trying to get them,” said the likewise president of the Pan-American Cycling Federation.

The 32nd Tour of Cuba takes place from February 13-25, and the U.S. Federation wanted to return to the respected competition, won by U.S. Todd Herriot in 2003.
(snip/...)

http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2007/febrero/mar6/06cyclist-i.html

[Mika]

6. What stupidity. The Tour of Cuba is a great tour.

Lots of hard climbs, fast downhills, some bumpy roads, some great Cuban cyclists, and the most friendly people in the towns and cities while on tour.

A damned shame on America's government that the US team can't go to Cuba.


Tour of Cuba

[Say_What]

14. Bicycling Cuba

How chicken shit can Tio Sam get denying bicyclists visas to Cuba--this is yet another demonstration of *freedom and democracy* in the USSA.

<clip>

Bicycling Cuba

This portion of our Bicycling Cuba website is a lightly-edited version of a slide show we have presented at home in Vermont, U.S.A. It is divided into the following sections: Overview of Our Route in 2000 - People - Learning about Cuba - History - Food & Agriculture - Housing & Health - Education - Final Days. A list of topics like this could make it seem as though this is a carefully researched treatise. On the contrary, you will see simply a collection of photos and impressions, posted because so many people have asked us -- more than any other question -- What was bicycling in Cuba like?

This is the route we followed during our 2-month visit in February and March, 2000. We landed in Havana and flew immediately to Santiago de Cuba. After studying Spanish for three weeks there, we set out to ride our bikes to the other end of the country. The next page gives a quick impression of the diversity and beauty of the countryside through which we rode. Then we'll look more closely at life on the island.

http://www.bicyclingcuba.com/

[Judi Lynn]

5. Polar opposites unite against Cuba policy

Posted on Tue, Feb. 06, 2007
CONGRESS
Polar opposites unite against Cuba policy
U.S. Reps. Bill Delahunt and Jeff Flake are an odd couple who disagree on just about everything -- except changing U.S. policy on Cuba.
BY PABLO BACHELET
[e-mail]

WASHINGTON - It's hard to find common ground between Reps. Jeff Flake and Bill Delahunt -- except on how the United States should deal with Fidel Castro's regime.

The Republican Flake, 44, a Mormon with beach-boy looks, represents Mesa, a solidly Republican Phoenix suburb. An ardent backer of free trade and small government, Flake was first elected in 2000, when he beat three other Republicans in a primary by campaigning as the most conservative of the lot.

The silver-haired Delahunt, 65, is Catholic and an unabashed liberal. A Democrat, he represents Massachusetts' sprawling South Shore district, which includes the hyper-rich islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.

Flake says he and Delahunt are the ''ideological bookends'' of the Republican and Democratic parties.

But they share a passionate rejection of U.S. policy toward Cuba, and their dogged persistence has made them de facto leaders of the congressional camp opposed to U.S. sanctions on Cuba.

And now the unlikely duo is stepping up their crusade to ease the sanctions through a host of amendments, bills and hearings. They have tried this before, but the context is vastly different now: Democrats control Congress, President Bush is on the defensive and Castro is gravely ill.
(snip/...)

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/16631031.htm

[oblivious]

7. I'm sorry I find it impossible to believe this article.

No country on earth could be that petty. Or silly. Or nutty. Or what? How do you describe this policy?

[IndianaGreen]

8. American foreign policy can best be described as having a big angry white male

that is self-conscious of his small penis size and that is enraged that people that he sees as racially and sexually inferior to him, have the audacity to do what they want instead of behaving like subservient species.

Uncle Sam needs lots of psychotherapy!

[oblivious]

10. Only four countries voted aganst the elimination of the US blockade.

The US, Israel, Marshall Islands and Palau. Micronesia abstained.

http://www.cuba-solidarity.org/news.asp?ItemID=598

I just had to look that up when I read the last sentence that 183 nations last year demanded the elimination of the blockade.

[IndianaGreen]

12. Pathetic to see Israel acting like America's subservient lapdog

Cuban dictator Batista, or his predecessor President Prio, did not have diplomatic relations with the "Jew state" as they called it.

It was Fidel Castro who, upon taking power, established relations with Israel. It was Israel that reciprocated by providing Cuba with farm and irrigation experts.

It is sad to see relations between two sovereign nations (Israel and Cuba) come under the shadow of Miami exile ideology.

[Judi Lynn]

16. No doubt you've heard this story, but there are undoubtedly people who haven't:

VOYAGE OF THE "ST. LOUIS"

On May 13, 1939, the German transatlantic liner "St. Louis" sailed from Hamburg, Germany, for Havana, Cuba. On the voyage were 937 passengers. Almost all were Jews fleeing from the Third Reich. Most were German citizens, some were from eastern Europe, and a few were officially "stateless."

The majority of the Jewish passengers had applied for U.S. visas, and had planned to stay in Cuba only until they could enter the United States. But by the time the "St. Louis" sailed, there were signs that political conditions in Cuba might keep the passengers from landing there. The U.S. State Department in Washington, the American consulate in Havana, some Jewish organizations, and refugee agencies were all aware of the situation. Tragically, the passengers themselves were not and most would be sent back to Europe.

Since Kristallnacht (the "Night of Broken Glass" pogrom of November 9-10, 1938), the Nazis had been trying to accelerate the pace of forced Jewish emigration. The German Foreign Office and Joseph Goebbels' Propaganda Ministry also hoped to use other nations' refusal to admit Jews to further the regime's anti-Jewish goals.

The owners of the "St. Louis," the Hamburg-America Line, knew even before the ship sailed that its passengers might have trouble disembarking in Cuba. But the passengers, who held landing certificates issued by the Cuban Director-General of Immigration, did not know that eight days before the ship sailed, Cuban President Federico Laredo Bru had issued a decree invalidating all landing certificates. Entry to Cuba required written authorization from Cuba's Secretaries of State and Labor and the posting of a $500 bond. (The bond was waived for U.S. tourists.)

The voyage of the "St. Louis" attracted a great deal of media attention. Even before the ship sailed from Hamburg, right-wing Cuban newspapers with pro-fascist sentiments announced its impending arrival and demanded an end to the continued admission of Jewish refugees. When the "St. Louis" passengers were denied entrance into Cuba, the American and European press brought the story to millions of readers throughout the world. Though U.S. newspapers generally portrayed the plight of the passengers with great sympathy, only a few suggested that the refugees be admitted into America.
(snip/...)

http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005267

[Say_What]

15. It's been the same four countries for quite a few years...

All four are in Uncle Sam's pocket.

:argh:

[dysfunctional press]

11. this fucking country is so fucking fucked in the fucking head...

that it's really starting to fucking drive me fucking crazy.