viernes, 8 de mayo de 2009

Washington Fines Oil Drilling Company for Violating US Blockade of Cuba

HAVANA, Cuba. The US Government has fined oil drilling manufacturer Varel Holdings US$ 110,000 for exporting technology to Cuba in violation of the US blockade against the island.

According to the Granma newspaper, which quotes Mexican news agency Notimex, this is the second fine imposed by the US State Department under the administration of Barack Obama in the current fiscal year, which began last October, and his administration's first against an oil
drilling company.

Last March, Washington fined Lactalis USA, a New York-based dairy producer, for US$ 20,950.

According to a recent report from the US Treasury Department's Foreign Assets Control Office (OFAC), Varel Holdings agreed to pay the fine after admitting to violating US blockade laws by way of a foreign subsidiary.

These latest fines take place at a time when oil exploration in the deep waters to the North of Cuba has begun to attract the interest of several international consortiums.

The United States has fined three other oil companies in recent years for similar violations. In 2006, OFAC fined the Dresser-Rand Group with US$ 171,300; in 2007, PSL Energy Services had to pay US$ 164,006; and Platte River Associates is facing a legal process that could cost the company upwards of US$ 1 million.


(Multa EE.UU a petrolera por violar bloqueo a Cuba)

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