January 1, the Republic of Cuba marks the 61st anniversary of the victory of the revolution. More than six decades have passed since the insurgent army entered Havana, but the original enemies of the Cuban people - the United States - have not yet come to terms with the loss of the island from their influence. The American imperialists are doing their best to strangle Liberty Island, to prevent its economic development and the implementation of social programs in the country.
The economic pressure of US imperialism only intensified with the installation of Republican leader D. Trump in the White House.
The US authorities not only block the contacts of their companies with Cuba, but also impose sanctions on foreign firms cooperating with Liberty Island. So, in 2019, the Italian major bank UniCredit was forced to pay the Americans a “fine” of $ 1.3 billion for transactions that ignored US sanctions “against Cuba, Iran, Libya, Sudan, Syria and Myanmar.” UK-based Standard Chartered was required to pay a $ 1.1 billion "fine" for alleged violation of Cuba’s economic, trade, and financial blockade and sanctions "against Iran, Syria, Sudan, and Myanmar."
Billion-dollar fines are not uncommon for companies that have to pay the US budget for contacts with Cuba under the threat of even greater sanctions from America. Five years ago, French bank BNP-Paribas paid $ 8.9 billion by a decision of an American court and closed its offices in Havana.
To be subject to American sanctions, it is not necessary to have direct economic contacts with Cuba, but rather to have contacts with someone who collaborates with Cubans. So, in 2019, the US Treasury Department fined $ 2 million 718 thousand for the American company General Electric, when it turned out that the company's enterprises transferred payments to their client in Canada, who has economic ties “with the Cuban mining industry”.
During 2019, right-wing coups occurred in Bolivia and Ecuador. Prostate governments have strengthened in these countries, who, at the behest of Washington, sent Cuban doctors who had previously worked in Ecuador and Bolivia in accordance with cooperation programs back to Liberty Island.
"We condemn the systematic actions of the US government aimed at discrediting and sabotaging Cuban international health cooperation in dozens of countries that have benefited millions of people, as well as the brutal pressure exerted on a number of governments to end their collaboration with Cuba to the detriment of the rights of their citizens for life and access to health services, "the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of America (ALBA) said in a statement.
One of the important sources of currency inflow in modern Cuba is the tourism industry. And here Trump did his best: in 2019, he introduced a series of prohibitive measures on trips of American tourists to the southern island. As a result, although the Cuban authorities predicted this year to increase the number of tourists to 5 million people. per year, the real figure was just over 4 million.
The threat of US sanctions leads many companies in the world to refuse beneficial cooperation with Cuba. And US submissive governments directly cut off economic ties with Liberty Island.
Under these conditions, Cuba is trying to build economic relations with countries that are least dependent on the United States - with Venezuela, China and others. The volume of annual trade between China and Liberty Island is about 1 billion 800 million.
It is noteworthy that trade between Russia and Cuba is 4.6 times less than Chinese and amounted to $ 387.9 million in 2018 (according to the Federal Customs Service).
According to the Cuban National Institute of Economic Research, for the years 1962-2017, the country's damage from the American blockade amounted to $ 130 billion. The amount continues to grow every year. These are the means that, with socialist development, could transform the island, turn it into a real paradise on earth. But freedom is not in vain, and for more than six decades, Cubans have been defending their independence by breaking through cobwebs of US sanctions.
Dar Vetrov
