Urge UN to act on blockade of Cuba
By Pat Brewer
Last November the United Nations General Assembly sharply rebuffed the United States for its economic blockade of Cuba by passing a Cuban-sponsored resolution calling for repeal of the Torricelli Act.
The Torricelli Act, passed last year, outlaws trade with Cuba by US companies' foreign subsidiaries and tries to impose restrictions on third countries' trade. The act commits the US, when determining relations with other countries, to "take into account [their] disposition ... to cooperate with" its policies against Cuba. It also bars entrance to US ports for six months to ships that have docked in Cuba.
Until the UN vote, Washington's 30-year economic blockade had been treated as a bilateral issue between the US and Cuba, but that fiction was destroyed by the terms of Torricelli. This act showed how far the US is prepared to go in its attempts to smash the sovereignty of the popularly supported Cuban government.
This year the secretary general will report regarding the implementation of the November resolution. The resolution, entitled "The Necessity of Ending the Economic, Commercial and Financial Embargo by the United States of America Against Cuba", calls upon "all states to refrain from promulgating and applying laws and measures ... which affect the sovereignty of other states and legitimate interests of entities or persons under their jurisdiction, as well as freedom of trade and shipping" and to "take the necessary steps to repeal or invalidate them as soon as possible".
It also established that at the 48th session of the General Assembly the secretary general "is asked to elaborate a report on the fulfilment of the resolution".
In the vote on the resolution. which passed 59 to three, Australia was one of 71 abstentions. Only the
United States, Israel and Romania voted against. Among those voting for the resolution were China, Mexico, Canada, New Zealand, France and Spain.
In Australia groups such as the Australia Cuba Friendship Society, the Committees in Solidarity with Latin America and the Caribbean (CISLAC), the Democratic Socialist Party, Resistance and other progressive organisations are calling on any individual or organisation who supports human rights, justice and national sovereignty to write to the secretary general, Dr Boutros Boutros Ghali, expressing support for the November 1992 resolution and urging that the action outlined in the resolution be carried out.
Similar letters should be sent to the UN Human Rights Centre in Geneva. Letters should also be sent to foreign minister Gareth Evans, urging the Australian government to vote in support of Cuba's rights and against a blockade which even denies food and medicine.
Communications may be addressed to:
Dr Boutros Boutros Ghali, UN Secretary General, United Nations, 1 UN Plaza, New York, NY 10017, USA.
Human Rights Centre, United Nations Palace, CH-1211, Geneva 10, Switzerland.
Senator Gareth Evans, Parliament House, Canberra, ACT 2600.
Please send copies of letters to the Cuban Consulate, 19 Myuna Rd., Dover Heights, NSW 2030.