2065. Washington Strengthens Economic Blockade of Cuba in 2015

^{By Prensa Latina, October 25, 2015}

^{Havana Oct 25 (Prensa Latina) The US Government strengthened the economic, trade and financial blockade of Cuba in 2015, a policy that contributed to deteriorate the Caribbean island''s economy and worsened the shortage the population is going through.}

^{The damage reach Cuban and foreign entities, as the US company Gen Tech Scientific, which refused to sale chromatographs of Agilent 5975C gas, used for research and diagnosis in the biochemistry, pharmaceutics, and medical areas, putting forward a prohibition of sales ordered by the US State Department.}

^{This answer was given three days after the decision of reestablishing the relations between the United States and Cuba was announced on December 17, said a draft resolution entitled "Need to Put and End to the Economic, Trade and Financial blockade of Cuba Imposed by the United States of America," to be presented at the United Nations.}

^{On March 12, 2015, the German bank Commerzbank agreed, with the Treasury and Justice departments, the Federal Reserve, the New York State Department of Financial Services, the Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, to pay a fine of millions of US dollars.}

^{According the the US authorities, such measure was adopted,. Due to violations of the regulations against Iran, Sudan, Myanmar, and Cuba.}

^{According to the report by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, between September, 2005 and December, 2007, Commerzbank processed 56 transactions related to Cuba, with a value of $2,283,456 USD.}

^{On June 1, 2015, the US Sigma-Aldrich Corporation, one of the world leaders in chemical and biochemical products, refused to supply essential chemical products for the development of the Cuban chemical industry to the Cuban company Quimimpex.}

^{Sigma-Aldrich put forward that it can not provide products, services or technical information, because Cuba was a country under sanctions, to which they can not export, reexport, sell or supply goods, technology or services directly or indirectly from the United States or by any people from that country, regardless of his/her location.}

^{On June 2, 2015, US Columbiana Boiler Company, LLC, specializing in manufacturing pressurized containers, refused to supply to the Cuban company Quimimpex the necessary cylinders to bottle the chloride used to make water drinkable for the aqueduct system} 

^{The entity said that it was not allowed to send products to Cuba.}

^{On September 5, 2014, three months before the historic announcement on December 17, President Barack Obama renewed the sanctions against Cuba.}

^{Such action, was taken under the 1917 Trading with the Enemy Act, on which the laws and regulations that compose the blockade of Cuba are based, citing foreign-policy interests.}

^{The blockade continues to be an absurd policy and morally unsustainable and as the US president recognized, did not serve the purpose of crushing the Cuban people's decision of choosing their political system and controlling their future.}