ES / EN
- February 27, 2021 -
No Result
View All Result
OnCubaNews Needs You
OnCubaNews
  • World
  • Cuba
  • Cuba-USA
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Infographic
  • Culture
    • Billboard
  • Sports
  • Styles / Trends
  • Media
  • Special
  • Cuban Flavors
  • World
  • Cuba
  • Cuba-USA
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Infographic
  • Culture
    • Billboard
  • Sports
  • Styles / Trends
  • Media
  • Special
  • Cuban Flavors
OnCubaNews
ES / EN
ADVERTISEMENT
Home Cuba-USA

U.S. accuses Cuba of “hijacking” protests in Latin America and applies more sanctions

The Trump administration sanctioned this Tuesday six oil tankers carrying crude to the island.

December 5, 2019
in Cuba-USA
0
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaking at the University of Louisville, Ky., on Monday, December 2, 2019. Photo: Timothy D. Easley / AP.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaking at the University of Louisville, Ky., on Monday, December 2, 2019. Photo: Timothy D. Easley / AP.

Hours before leaving for London for the 70th anniversary ceremony of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Cuba of trying to “hijack” the public protests of recent weeks in Chile and Bolivia to include them in their ideological orbit.

And hours after arriving in the British capital, the Trump administration announced a new package of sanctions against a group of oil tankers transporting crude from Venezuela to the island.

“In just the last few years, we’ve seen some truly remarkable things.  Many nations have made a sharp turn towards democracy and capitalism, good government, away from dictatorship and socialism and the corruption that has been endemic in some of those countries. You see this just in the past few weeks. The Bolivians are rebuilding their democracy even as we sit here today.  No one in the region any longer believes that authoritarianism is the way forward, that it’s the right path, whether you stare at the people in Cuba or in Nicaragua or in Venezuela,” said the secretary of state in a speech at the University of Louisville, Kentucky.

Pompeo said the United States assumes the “moral and strategic” responsibility of making it appear that “authoritarianism in our hemisphere is a threat – it’s a threat to us here in the United States.  We cannot tolerate these regimes inviting bad actors in, and trying to turn allied democracies into dictatorships,” he said.

The secretary of state gave a long explanation of how, in his view, the Trump administration made the decision to roll back the thaw with Cuba established during the administration of Barack Obama “by applying heavy new sanctions.  We’ve recognized that engagement has not improved Cuba’s regime, it hasn’t made it better; the human rights record was worse, the risk to the Cuban people was worse, and the risk to the United States was worse, and their capacity to influence Venezuela even greater.  So we’ve changed that,” Pompeo explained, in a meeting organized by the leader of the Republican majority in the Senate, Mitch McConnell. 

The senior official also advocated the reactivation of the Helms-Burton Act last April. “It only makes sense when Americans had their stuff stolen to give them a chance to get it back,” he said.

Related Posts

The U.S. city of Chicago. Photo: prensa-latina.cu

City of Chicago calls for end to U.S. embargo on Cuba

February 26, 2021
Biden

U.S.: Biden extends emergency situation with respect to Cuba

February 25, 2021
Miami

Cuban Americans Need a New Story

February 25, 2021
Flag half-mast

Cuba pays tribute to victims of coronavirus in United States

February 24, 2021

Pompeo also congratulated the recent expulsion of Cuban doctors practicing in several countries, such as Ecuador, Bolivia and Brazil. “We’ve applauded countries that have expelled Cubans who have come to live as doctors inside of their borders, who were really working on behalf of the [Cuban] government.  These doctors – this was a program that’s hard to fathom sometimes,” said the secretary of state, who implied that Havana “has also [through doctors] tried to hijack legitimate democratic protests in the region for its ideological purposes.”

To continue the rhetoric escalation of the last weeks between the two governments, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez quickly responded to Pompeo’s words.

“Secretary of State Pompeo lies shamelessly when he attributes to Cuba the just and legitimate protest of the Latin American peoples vs. the savage neo-liberal policies and brutal repression,” Rodríguez wrote on his Twitter account, where he called for a stop to “U.S. domination and intervention in Latin America.”

El Sec de Est #EEUU Pompeo miente de forma desvergonzada cuando imputa a #Cuba la justa y legítima protesta de los pueblos latinoamericanos vs las salvajes políticas neoliberales y la brutal represión. Cesen la Doctrina Monroe, la dominación y la intervención imperialista en AL

— Bruno Rodríguez P (@BrunoRguezP) December 2, 2019

On the other hand, this Tuesday the Treasury Department announced new sanctions against oil tankers transporting crude oil to Cuba from Venezuela in violation of the U.S. embargo.

The six oil tankers affected are named Esperanza, Luisa Cáceres de Arismendi, Manuela Sáenz, Paramaconi, Terepaima and Yare. As a result, their assets were frozen under U.S. jurisdiction and financial transactions with U.S. entities were prohibited.

According to the Treasury Department, the ships have transported 1.3 million barrels since last summer on behalf of the Cubametales enterprise, which has also been sanctioned. The government entity also said that the proceeds of this traffic have been transferred to a Russian bank, which it did not identify.

Deputy Treasury Secretary Justin Muzinich said that Cuba and the old Maduro regime continue trying to avoid sanctions by changing the names of ships and facilitating the movement of oil from Venezuela to Cuba, and highlighted the corrupt mechanisms used to transfer oil to the Cuban regime in exchange for intelligence and security assistance, one of the remaining sources of support for the former and illegitimate Maduro regime in Venezuela.

EU hires lawyers in U.S.

Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) has hired several U.S. lawyers to help it face the lawsuits against European companies in the framework of the application of the Helms-Burton Act, the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council revealed.

The intention is that the lawyers prepare so-called “court friendly” statements assuming the defense of each legal claim against a company based in Europe which, until the beginning of December, already amounted to nine. The European Union may have to spend $1 million for each lawsuit.

Tags: Cuba-USA RelationsMike Pompeo
Previous Post

Immersion in Cuba through The New School

Next Post

ETECSA launches new mobile internet offer in Cuba

Rui Ferreira

Rui Ferreira

Mi padre era actor y mi abuelo general. Una mezcla lo suficientemente explosiva como para generar un tipo que solo hace preguntas, no le gusta las respuestas a medias, y refleja todo eso en la mejor profesión del mundo. Por lo demás, me gusta viajar y fotografiar. A veces eso da plata, otras veces solo entretiene. Pero siempre vale la pena. Por lo que queda, dejémonos de pretensiones.

Next Post

ETECSA launches new mobile internet offer in Cuba

Photo: Alejandro Ramírez

Cuban Jazz today: the endless list

Grinding at a sugar factory in Cuba. Photo: Portal Caña / Archive.

Cuba’s sugar harvest kicks off with 16 factories in production

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

The conversation here is moderated according to OnCuba News discussion guidelines. Please read the Comment Policy before joining the discussion.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

ADVERTISEMENT

Most Read

Biden

U.S.: Biden extends emergency situation with respect to Cuba

February 25, 2021
People transporting goods during the outbreak of COVID-19 in Havana, in January 2021. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez.

Cuban government reaffirms refusal to import for individuals

February 21, 2021
Soberana 02 is the most advanced Cuban vaccine candidate to date. Photo: taken from the official Twitter of the Cuban Ministry of Sciences.

Soberana 02 vaccine candidate starts large-scale production

February 21, 2021
Cuban rafters

Number of Cuban rafters trying to reach Florida grows

February 23, 2021

Most Commented

No Content Available
  • About us
  • Work with OnCuba
  • Terms of use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Moderation policy for comments
  • Contact us
  • Advertisement offers

OnCuba and the OnCuba logo are registered® trademarks of Fuego Enterprises, Inc., its subsidiaries or divisions.
OnCuba © by Fuego Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • World
  • Cuba
  • Cuba-USA
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Infographic
  • Culture
    • Billboard
  • Sports
  • Styles / Trends
  • Media
  • Special
  • Cuban Flavors

OnCuba and the OnCuba logo are registered® trademarks of Fuego Enterprises, Inc., its subsidiaries or divisions.
OnCuba © by Fuego Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

OnCubaNews English
Go to mobile version