By Norm Dixon
The United Nations General Assembly delivered a sharp rebuff to Washington when it voted for a Cuban-sponsored resolution calling for the repeal of the Torricelli Bill. The bill, known as the Cuban Democracy Act, tightens further the United States' 30-year-long economic blockade of Cuba.
The November 24 resolution was passed 59 votes to three, with 71 abstentions. Among the countries voting for the Cuban resolution were China, Mexico, Canada, New Zealand, France and Spain. Most Latin American countries voted in favour and more than 20 countries took the floor to speak in favour of the Cuban resolution. The only votes against the resolution the US was able to garner came from itself, Israel and Romania.
Australia's representative to the UN, Richard Butler, abstained from the vote despite the Australian government's professed opposition to the Torricelli Bill. The bill has generated considerable opposition even among US allies, as its provisions forbid subsidiaries of US companies in third countries trading with Cuba. The EEC, Canada, and most Latin American countries have protested vehemently against the reinforced trade blockade.
The UN vote shows that the extra-territorial implications of Washington's determination to crush the Cuban revolution have persuaded much of the world that the US blockade of Cuba is no longer simply a bilateral issue between Cuba and the US. While General Assembly resolutions are not binding, they strongly indicate world public opinion.
Apart from outlawing trade with Cuba by US companies' foriegn subsidiaries, the Torricelli Bill commits the US, when determining their relations with other countries, to "take into account [their] disposition ... to cooperate with" its policies against Cuba. The bill also prevents entrance to US ports for 180 days to ships of any nation that may have docked in Cuban ports.
The succesful resolution, entitled "The Necessity of Ending the Economic, Commercial and Financial Embargo Imposed by the United States of America Against Cuba", called 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".
Cuba's representative, Alcibiades Hidalgo Basulto, told the General Assembly that it was now "irrefutably demonstrated" that the tightening of the US blockade "was neither an internal affair of the US, nor a bilateral issue between that country and Cuba, and thus inadequate for consideration in the UN.
"The issue was, and still is, a policy ... in detriment of the not only of Cuba, but also of its own citizens and of the international community as a whole".
Basulto added that the aim of the blockade was to "impose upon the Cuban people a political, social and economic system to the liking of the US and ... to re-establish the domination the US exerted on Cuba during the darkest days of its history".
Mexican Ambassador Jorge Montant called the US trade embargo of Cuba a violation of international law and an "instrument used selectively by the powerful when it serves their interests. It is for the government of Mexico, and for it alone, in full exercise of its sovereignty, to decide with whom it will engage in trade relations."
Terence O'Brien, representing New Zealand, explained that that country's vote in favour of the resolution was based on the underlying principle that countries must be able to trade free from the extraterritorial restrictions imposed by other states.
In contrast, Australia's position on the resolution was "cowardly" a spokesperson for the Cuba Solidarity Campaign Committee told Green Left Weekly.
Ambassador Richard Butler told the UN General Assembly that there was "a problem in language and the title" of the resolution. "Because the draft resoultion has too narrow a focus, it was unlikely that it would assure free and fair trade. For that reason, Australia would abstain from voting."
A spokesperson for Department of Foriegn Affairs and Trade told Green Left Weekly that Australia considered that the US blockade of Cuba "essentially a bilateral issue" between those countries. While Australia supported the right of all countries to trade freely, he said, it would make its own representations to the US in relation to the Torricelli Bill. He said that Australia does not regard the provisions of the bill as applying to Australia.
Asked what action Australia would take if any Australian subsidiaries of US companies were penalised for trading with Cuba, the spokesperson replied limply, "We can't do much other than protest".