-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the Nov. 2, 2000
issue of Workers World newspaper
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A MILLION MARCH IN CUBA: MASS ACTION COUNTERS U.S.
THEFT

By Gloria La Riva

In response to the latest U.S. actions against their
socialist island, over 1 million Cubans marched on Oct. 18
to demand an end to the U.S. blockade. The march was called
on 24 hours' notice and ended in front of the U.S. Interests
Section in Havana. The size and spirit of the rally
reflected the anger Cubans feel towards the U.S. policy of
blockade and sabotage that seems to have no end.

The tumultuous rally was held to denounce the granting by a
U.S. judge of $58 million in Cuban assets to the survivors
of Cuban-American right-wing pilots shot down by Cuban air
defense in February 1996. The Miami-based pilots had
deliberately invaded Cuban air space, despite repeated
warnings.

Cuban authorities had warned the U.S. government that it
would not tolerate the illegal incursions by "Brothers to
the Rescue," a Miami-based terrorist group that has engaged
in confrontational actions against Cuba for years.
Communiqués from the Cuban government to the U.S. were
ignored, and in February 1996 the Cuban air force shot down
the invading planes. Four of the pilots were killed.

This incident provided the Clinton administration with a
ploy for tightening blockade regulations on Cuba and signing
into law the Helms-Burton legislation. Among other
provisions, Helms-Burton threatens sanctions on any country
that trades with or invests in Cuba.

The $58 million was confiscated from $162 million in Cuban
resources that the U.S. government has illegally frozen in
banks here since 1966. This money is due Cuba for its share
of telephone calls made between the two countries.

STEALING CUBA'S ASSETS

In the same judgment, U.S. Circuit Court Judge James
Lawrence King also awarded the right wing another $35
million in sanctions against Cuba and $137.7 million in
punitive damages, also to be taken from Cuban assets. The
latter two sums have not been released yet but would exhaust
all Cuban revenues held by the U.S.

To add fuel to the fire, a new reactionary bill in the U.S.
Congress accompanied the $58-million action against Cuba--
the so-called "Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act." It
will enable Washington to more easily seize assets of Cuba
and any other country that the U.S. government deems a
target.

After the court ruling, a Miami press conference was held by
the same right-wing forces that had surrounded Elián
González during his ordeal. They declared that a third of
the $58 million would be used to fund anti-Cuba activities,
including a nefarious campaign to indict Cuban President
Fidel Castro.

This unprecedented theft and the handing over of tens of
millions of dollars to Cuban counter-revolutionaries was
condemned by the Cuban government, which took immediate
action to counter the stealing of the people's rightful
resources.

CUBA TO TAX PHONE CALLS TO RECOUP MONEY

On Oct. 20, the Cuban Council of State passed a law to
immediately tax all future U.S.-Cuba telephone calls by 10
percent, including calls made to or from the U.S. through
third countries. The taxation will be in effect until the
equivalent of Cuba's confiscated money is raised.

The law reads in part, "Article 11: The funds collected by
these means will be set aside for the purchase of medical
equipment, medicine and raw materials for their production,
separately from the annual expenditure in foreign currency
that our nation devotes to the medical attention of our
people.

"Article 12: In the face of any attempt on the part of
American authorities to block, freeze or confiscate the
revenue raised by this tax, the government of Cuba reserves
the right to adopt whatever means it deems pertinent,
including the total cutoff of telephone communications,
direct and indirect, between Cuba and the United States."

Despite Washington's denial of Cuba's share of telephone
revenue for decades, from 1966 to 1994, Cuba allowed
communications between both countries to continue. In 1994,
under a new arrangement finally allowed by the U.S.
government, and based on pressure from U.S.
telecommunications giants who sought profits from calls to
Cuba, a limited amount of revenue was allowed to Cuba.

This income generated by present U.S.-Cuba calls-roughly 45
percent of about $130 million raised yearly--is the revenue
that Cuba proposes to tax. However, the State Department has
announced it will prohibit U.S. companies from paying that
tax.

This latest U.S. action must be seen in light of legislation
passed by the U.S. Senate on Oct. 18 and soon to be signed
into law by President Bill Clinton. The bill ostensibly
allows the sale of food and medicine to Cuba. However, the
provisions for these sales are so restrictive that Cuba in
reality could not purchase the goods.

The bill denies Cuba any financial credits, which are a
necessity in international trade. The Cuban government
condemned the bill, saying that unless this restrictive
legislation is removed it refuses to buy any items from the
U.S.

Why does Washington have to disguise legislation that
actually tightens the blockade as though it is instead
easing the sanctions? Obviously, because the sentiment among
a large segment of the people here and around the world is
increasingly against sanctions, blockades and other acts of
economic warfare on small countries.

- END -

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