STOP US BLOCKADE OF CUBA - compelling ammunition to argue the case

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From the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples, Havana, Cuba

Dear friends:

In a few days, the United Nations General Assembly will vote the draft resolution “Necessity to put an end to the Economic, Commercial and Financial Blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba” introduced by Cuba.

For 16 consecutive years, the UN General Assembly has passed similar resolutions by a growing and overwhelming majority. The last of these, was voted on October 30, 2007, and supported by 184 countries.

We would like to give you solid examples of the huge damages provoked by the US Blockade on the Cuban People in the areas of FOOD AND HEALTH WHICH UNFORTUNATELY DO NOT REPRESENT A CONCERN TO WASHINGTON.

FOOD

In the period covered by this report, the blockade caused losses in the food sector exceeding $174m. The impact was again felt in the production of food for domestic consumption.

In addition to having to cope with escalating international food prices during the period, Cuba was obliged to incur extra, exceptional costs as a result of the restrictions imposed by the blockade:

* Food imports from the United States remained unpredictable. They are subject to strict supervision and licensing for export and transportation of agricultural products to our country. During 2007, the ALIMPORT Company was obliged to freeze funds for periods averaging 10-15 days before the arrival of the goods, causing losses totalling some $30 m. The familiar obstacles are now compounded by a new regulation that came into force on 18 April requiring extra vessel inspections; these are designed to obstruct food sales to Cuba even more, by increasing the costs of the shipping lines concerned and generally discouraging these.

* If Cuba had access to the husbandry technology used in the United States, we could produce 153 million eggs more than at present and generate savings on feed of $6.8m a year.

Cases exemplifying the impact of the extraterritorial nature of the blockade on the food sector included the following:

* The Cuban company Maquimport had to act through an intermediary to buy equipment needed for technology improvement in Cuba's rice industry, following refusal by the supplier to deal directly with Cuba on the grounds of protecting its interests in the United States. The extra cost to the Cuban company was some $75,600.

* CORACAN, a Cuba-Canada joint venture company, was affected from July 2007 onwards by the cancellation of its sugar import agreement (No.12-07/08) with Brazil's COSAN S.A., when the latter announced that it had converted into a public company listed on the New York Stock Exchange and was consequently prohibited from trading with Cuba. A pending shipment of 270 tons was cancelled. The lack of supplies and paralysis of this industry for seven days resulted in lost sales worth $180,000 and additional financial charges (bank commission and interest) of $11,500.


PUBLIC HEALTH

The impact on to the public health sector during the 12 months ended in April 2008 is estimated at over $25m.

The economic damage represented by the extra costs involved in obtaining supplies and equipment in more distant markets and with the intervention of intermediaries, is accompanied by distress among the patients and their relatives, as well as the medical personnel whose scope for providing proper care of the sick is restricted by the fact that US drug companies have exclusive rights over products and technologies that are critical to the treatment of various diseases.

The following are among the cases that arose during the period under review:

* Surgical treatment of children with cardiovascular complaints was affected, as regards the application of certain surgical techniques, by the absence of particular supplies. The necessity of buying these via third parties and in distant markets involved extra expenditure of $245,072, including $1,389 for freight alone. It was consequently not possible to meet the needs of all the cases.

* Cuba has been unable to obtain suitable devices for performing catheterism and other techniques for repairing congenital defects of the heart, following refusal by Boston Scientific and Amplatzer to negotiate with our country. The results have included lengthening of the waiting list of Cuban children needing open-heart surgery, with the associated risk to the health and life expectancy of the children concerned. Those affected include:

María Gainza Pozo, 2 years, Holguín province, borough of Sagua de Tánamo, case file No. 680689.

Olivia Oliva Báez, 3 years, Ciudad Habana province, borough of Centro Habana, case file No. 683826.

Félix Cruz, 4 years, Matanzas province, borough of Colón, case file No. 657743.

Fidel Valeriano Ramos, 6 years, Matanzas province, borough of Jagüey Grande, case file No. 681080.

* The National Centre for Medical Genetics was unable to acquire gene sequencing equipment essential to its work, simply and solely because it is produced only by American companies. Its absence is preventing diagnosis and research of diseases involving deafness, hereditary hearing loss, hereditary breast cancer and cystic fibrosis, while restricting the diagnosis of a large number of mutations in the genes that cause conditions, such as Phenylketonuria (PKU), Mitochondrial Disease and Von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease, and consequently the necessary genetic counselling of the families concerned.

* The impact on the Institute of Oncology & Radiobiology amounted to $288,355. It was prevented from purchasing PET-CT (Positron Emission Tomography + Computerized Tomography) diagnostic imaging equipment, which provides modern oncology with the best image quality and accuracy of physiological data. There are currently three manufacturers of this technology in the world; Washington bans all of them from offering their products to Cuba.

* The prestigious Pedro Kouri Institute of Tropical Medicine has encountered serious problems in diagnosing encephalitis arising from West Nile Virus infection, a disease primarily spread by migratory birds. The US Fisher and Sigma companies refused to supply the Institute with an incubator and the mineral oil needed for the relevant research. Similarly, another American company, Biograd, refused to sell to Cuba equipment for applying the pulsed-field electrophoresis method, for epidemiological molecular monitoring Salmonella, Escherichia coli, Shigella and Vibrio cholerae bacteria, responsible for severe infections.

* Cuba's anti-HIV/AIDS programme has been hampered by refusal on the part of American companies to supply equipment for the technique of diagnosis and treatment of the HIV-positive and the ill.

Cases in the public health sector exemplifying the extraterritorial nature of the sanctions included the following:

* For fear of fines, Japan's Hitachi refused to supply an ultracentrifuge on the grounds that it included US components. The equipment is needed for performing Western blot diagnostic testing, which is essential to the detection of HIV/AIDS.

* GH (growth hormone) ceased to be available from Sweden's Pharmacia when the firm was acquired by an American company. The substance is used in paediatric endocrinology to treat short stature caused by a deficit of this hormone.

* Cuba was prevented from obtaining some 3 million disposable syringes (value $256,000) via the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) for the country's child vaccination programme; the suppliers said they were unable to sell them if their final destination was Cuba.


Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples © 2008 | Dirección de Información y Análisis