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but moved to end trade through several means with companies in OTHER countries. Nothing could illustrate this pathetic situation better than the unforgiveable case of the U.S. vs. James Sabzali, and Candian citizen: Why do Americans hate and fear Cuba so much? The American reaction towards Cuba is not merely the normal American xenophobia towards other nations - France, Germany, Canada, Mexico, the entire Middle East, Japan… and pretty much the rest of the world. No, this is something deeper, a chasm in the already suspicious American political psyche. Mention Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, China or even Russia and most Americans will hardly flutter their eyelids. Say Cuba and they’ll go off kilter, launch into a wild tirade and scream invectives about Castro, freedom, human rights, and Communism.
Cuba, it seems, weighs more heavily on the American mind than almost any other nation. So heavily that Americans will lash out at anyone who even suggests a more temperate approach to the small island, even to the point of legal action against citizens of other nations who deal with Cuba in their own country.
Yes, bizarre - and unethical - as it sounds, the US has taken legal action against foreigners who even remotely appear to befriend the Cuban people. Take, for example, James Sabzali, a Canadian businessman. On February 28, 2004, he stood in American court charged with 75 counts of violating a 1917 US law – the "Trading with the Enemy Act" and a count of conspiracy.
His crime? Arms? State secrets? Military blueprints? No - he sold water purification supplies to Cuba – most of which were done while he was living and working in Canada where trade with Cuba is legal.(1)
For that humanitarian – not military - business, for a mere $3 million in sales over several years, he faced a possible life sentence and up to $19 million in fines. That’s less than a single M-1 Abrams tank ($9 million). American arms manufacturers sell more weaponry to sworn enemies of America in a week than Sabzali sold water treatment systems in his career to date. But American arms manufacturers have lobbyists who pay a lot of money to US politicians and their election campaigns to keep their trade flowing. Sabzali is merely a single, honest businessman doing business that is legal in his home country.
Sabzali, a Canadian, ended up with an American criminal record for violating American law even though he lived in another country when he sold goods to Cuba. When he visited the US, he was charged with smuggling, taken to court, given a year’s probation and fined $10,000. More: http://www.ianchadwick.com/essays/cuba.html~~~~~~~~~~~~Thursday, 4 April, 2002, 09:45 GMT 10:45 UK
Canadian convicted of trading with Cuba
A US court has convicted a Canadian national of breaking the 40-year old American trade embargo against Cuba, in one of the first cases of its kind.
The man, James Sabzali, and two American company executives were found guilty of trading with an enemy of the United States by selling water purification chemicals to Cuba.
Prosecutors said the three men conspired to use foreign subsidiaries to channel American products to Cuba.
Mr Sabzali faces a maximum sentence of more than 200 years in jail although prosecutors have recommended less than five. He is to be sentenced on 28 June.
Criticism from Canada
The Canadian government has criticised the United States over the charges filed against Mr Sabzali, saying it was trying to impose US law outside its own borders.
Mr Sabzali is believed to be the first foreign national to be tried and found guilty of violating the act.
As he left the court, James Sabzali said he was shocked and confused by the verdict. He was found guilty on 20 charges and another count of conspiracy.
The case has caused some controversy in Canada, where the government has objected to the charges, saying that the United States was trying to enforce its laws outside its borders. More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1910284.stm~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Minister Graham's Response
Background & Links
UPDATE: 29 APRIL 2005:Eight years of battle over a key embargo issue came to a close early this year as the U.S. government quietly withdrew its final attack on Canadian businessman James Sabzali, an effort to deport him from his adopted home in the United States. Washington had pursued deportation despite an earlier plea agreement with Sabzali. "The government reneged on its offer," he explained in an interview. By STEVE ECKARDT
PHILADELPHIA (CP) - The long-running case of Canadian businessman James Sabzali, charged with violating the U.S. embargo against Cuba, came to a quiet close Friday as he received a year's probation in exchange for pleading guilty to a single charge of "smuggling" several thousand dollars worth of supplies destined for the island.
He was also fined $10,000 US.
Sabzali had been charged with 75 counts of violating the 1917 U.S. Trading with the Enemy Act and a single count of conspiracy for sales of nearly $3 million worth of water-purification supplies to Cuba. He faced a possible life sentence and a fine of over $19 million.
Sabzali's conviction on the single charge of smuggling references his importation of goods in violation of U.S. law: in this case, re-export to Cuba by a U.S. business with which he was working. Prosecutors allowed the 45-year-old Canadian, a Philadelphia-area resident since 1996, to plead guilty to this new offence to avoid the automatic deportation required by all of the original charges.
"Right now, I feel great," said Sabzali.
"It's nice to get this chapter over with and move on with my life."
But while Sabzali called the agreement a "victory," the settlement may have kept alive the case's most contentious issue: Washington's asserted right to enforce U.S. law beyond its borders.
The original 76 charges - 32 of which were for sales made while Sabzali was living and working in Canada - brought a wave of objections about U.S. "extraterritorial measures" from Canadian editorialists and demonstrators, as well as two diplomatic protest notes from Ottawa. More: http://www.canadiannetworkoncuba.ca/Documents/Sabzali.shtml |
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