Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Is the U.S. Treasury Department Attacking Cuba in the Right Way?

Democratic Congressman Jose E. Serrano thinks it is. He is accusing the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of not having it's priorities straight, claiming that the office is more worried about U.S. citizens going to Cuba and bringing back cigars and rum.

People who are perceived to violate certain regulations on travel to Cuba get prosecuted, harassed, investigated, at much higher levels than for any other violation,” Serrano said.Serrano argues that OFAC — whose mission includes financially punishing state sponsors of terrorism, as well as narcotics and weapons traffickers — has imposed more penalties for violations of policies related to Cuba than for countries such as Iran and North Korea .

The concern over OFAC was sparked in part by a November 2007 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report that found that cases related to the Cuba embargo made up 61 percent of the agency’s cases from 2000 to 2006, even though the office administers more than 20 sanctions programs. During a similar period, 2000 to 2005, penalties for Cuba embargo violations represented more than 70 percent of the agency’s total penalties.


Both the House and Senate Appropriations committees have approved fiscal 2009 Financial Services spending bills that would ease restrictions on Cuba trade and travel

Source : Congressional Quarterly

at

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous3:33 PM

    But why should the U.S. Treasury Department be attacking Cuba in the first place?

    Isn't it time and overtime to normalize relations with Cuba and allow people from the United States to visit Cuba if they want to. More so, why not allow business from the United States to invest there if they and the Cuban government can agree on such things?

    Cuba does business with everyone else, why not with the United States?

    With all the economic troubles we're having here in the United States, some new business opportunities would seem to be just what the doctor needed for the economy of this country.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous5:27 PM

    Walter: I agree 100%. Both human rights organizations and the WTO agreed that there is no tangible benefit to keeping the embargo in place, and if anything are tightening the regime's grip on the Cuban people.

    It just seems so irrational to me. It doesn't even jive with typical neo-liberal thought because there are plenty of markets that are untapped because of the embargo.

    I'm working on a boycott right now of Bacardi Co: http://www.thepoint.com/campaigns/boycott-bacardi-buy-better-booze

    They were one of the architects for the 1996 ruling that expanded the embargo and they continue to support it to this day, worried that a better competitive product from Cuba mght challenge their stranglehold on the industry.

    Please join and let everybody know that Bacardi should be held accountable!

    ReplyDelete