The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, complained this Friday about the extension of Washington’s embargo against Havana in a publication in which he again blamed United States policy for all the ills that afflict Cubans.
By extending the application of the “Trade with the Enemy Act”, Biden becomes the 12th president of the United States to ratify the framework that supports the policy of abuse vs. #Cuba and its people, which is rejected by almost all member countries of the intl community.#EliminaElBloqueo pic.twitter.com/wdKAUKFOhb
— Bruno Rodriguez P (@BrunoRguezP) September 2, 2022
Through a statement issued on Friday by the White House and addressed to the offices of the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and the Secretary of the Treasury, Janet Yellen, the US President, Joe Biden, reported his decision to maintain the trade embargo on Cuba, in force for six decades.
“The exercise of certain authorities under the Trading with the Enemy Act is scheduled to expire on September 14, 2022. I hereby determine that the continuation of the exercise of those authorities with respect to Cuba for one year is in the national interest of the United States,” the note said.
On the same day, Rodríguez Parrilla wrote on Twitter: “By extending the application of the ‘Trading with the Enemy Act,’ Biden becomes the twelfth US president to ratify the framework that upholds the policy of abuse against Cuba and its people.”
Referring to the vote that takes place every year at the UN, the minister added that the US policy “is rejected by almost all member countries of the international community.”
Annually, In September, the US presidents must decide whether or not to extend the sanctions against Havana under a regulation that then President John F. Kennedy resorted to in 1962 to impose the economic embargo on Havana and that since then has been renewed, year after year, by the leaders who have followed him.
The embargo is the favorite scapegoat of the Havana regime for the failure of its country project.
Is law applied in response to the confiscation of US property on the island after Fidel Castro came to power authorizes the US president to impose and maintain economic restrictions on states considered hostile.
The renewal of the Trading with the Enemy Act It extends to the maximum the authority of the president to administer the embargo to the Government of the Island and to authorize certain transactions.
In 2000, one waiver of the embargo approved by the US Congress authorized the sale of food, agricultural products, medicines and medical equipment to Cubaas long as Havana paid in advance and in cash.
During that decade there were frequent reports in the US press about the value of food and agricultural product exports to Havana, and the US became one of the main suppliers of the island.
In 2020, in response to requests to lift the restrictions on Havana due to the Covid-19 emergency, the US Government clarified that the country exported to Cuba in the last two decades billions of dollars in medicines and medical equipmentand added that there is “misinformation” about the sanctions imposed on Havana.
Although the Cuban government He denied that the US had sold him drugsacknowledged that it does acquire drugs from the US through third countries, or through resale, some products for specific diseases.
USA is also main supplier of chicken meat currently. In spite of the contraction experienced by exports of chicken meat from the US to Cuba in May 2022, the levels—both in value and in tons—remain high compared to historical data, according to recently published by the economist Pedro Monreal.