lunes, 17 de enero de 2011

Cuban Foreign Ministry Releases Statement on US Measures

HAVANA, Cuba, Jan 17 - The Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX by its Spanish acronym) released a statement regarding the latest measures announced by the US government regarding Cuba.

Cuban News Agency reproduces MINREX statement:

On January 14, 2011, The United States government announced new measures regarding Cuba. Though we will have to wait for the regulations to be published to know their true meaning, according to preliminary information released by the White House Office of the Press Secretary the measures are:

-To authorize US citizens to travel to Cuba for academic, educational,cultural and religious purposes.

-To allow US citizens to send remittances to Cuban citizens in limited amounts.

-To authorize US international airports to apply to provide services to licensed charters to Cuba under certain conditions.

The adoption of these measures are the result of the efforts of ample ectors of the US society that have claimed for years to the lifting of the criminal US blockade against Cuba and the absurd prohibition of travelling to Cuba.

It is also an expression of the admission of the failure of the US policy against Cuba and that the US government is seeking new ways to achieve its
historical goal of dominating the Cuban people.

Though these measures are positive, they failed to entirely fulfil these just claims, they have a very limited reach and do not modify the US
policy towards Cuba.

The White House announcement limits itself, basically, to restore some of the dispositions that were in force in the 1990´s during the Clinton Administration and were eliminated by President George W. Bush after 2003.

These measures only benefit some categories of US citizens and do not restore the right of every US citizen to travel to Cuba, making them the only ones worldwide that can not visit Cuba freely.

They confirm that there is no will to change the US blockade and destabilization policies against Cuba. At announcing them, the US officials make clear that the blockade will remain untouched and that they are preparing new tools of subversion and interference in Cuba’s internal affairs. This confirms the denunciation made by MINREX last January 13.

Cuba has always favored the exchanges with the US people, their universities, and their academic, scientific and religious institutions.

All obstacles for the US citizens to visit Cuba have been and still are onthe US side.

If there was a true interest in expanding and easing the contacts between our two peoples, the United States should lift the blockade and the prohibition that makes of Cuba the only country that US citizens can notfreely travel to.(acn)

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