Is there anyone on this list who still believes that this government
is not under the control of the Pentagon? The Military/Industrial
Complex now controls, or will control *ALL presidential candidates.
ALL!!!
Our War Machine is profiting from the countless wars around the globe,
and the Wall Street Banks are profiting from the interest creamed off
from our loans to just about everybody except our own citizens.
If I could find a peaceful planet, I'd begin building an Ark-like
space ship and get the Hell out.
Carl Jarvis
On 7/18/19, Roger Loran Bailey <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
https://themilitant.com/2019/07/13/us-rulers-step-up-economic-war-against-cuba-and-venezuela/
US rulers step up economic war against Cuba and Venezuela
??By Janet Post
Vol. 83/No. 26
July 22, 2019
The U.S. Treasury Department added Cuba???s state-owned Cuba-metales,
which handles all Cuba???s imports of fuels and oil, including from
Venezuela, to its growing blacklist July 3. It???s the latest move by
Washington to tighten its decadeslong embargo against Cuba, part of its
efforts to topple the government of Nicol??s Maduro in Venezuela.
The Associated Press noted that ???while the new sanctions will likely
have little direct impact on the state-run Cuban company,??? given the
already strict U.S. sanctions on Cuba, they tighten the pressure on
workers and farmers there by intimidating shippers and other firms ???from
buying and selling oil from Cubametales out of fear of drawing
Treasury???s ire.???
AP pointed to the example of Italy???s PB Tankers, blacklisted in April
for transporting petroleum products from Venezuela to Cuba. When they
slapped the new sanctions on Cubametales, U.S. authorities removed PB
Tankers from their blacklist, saying it had broken off all relations
with the Cuban export-import company.
There are more than 200 Cuban companies, ministries, hotels and other
businesses on the U.S. blacklist, which face strict sanctions by
Washington.
???Maduro is clinging to Cuba to stay in power, buying military and
intelligence operatives in exchange for oil,??? Treasury Secretary Steven
Mnuchin claimed July 3. This is the same lie that Washington has peddled
for years, falsely claiming that the more than 20,000 Cuban
internationalist volunteer doctors, nurses and teachers in Venezuela are
in fact soldiers and spies.
The initial contract for oil between Cuba and Venezuela was signed Oct.
30, 2000, for ???53,000 barrels per day for a five-year period??? to Cuba
amounting to ???33 percent of the country???s consumption,??? Granma noted
in
2002.
While the oil is sold at lower than the world market price, the Cuban
government has paid millions of dollars for it, Granma said. ???For our
part, we have not spared any effort, sacrifice, and expense to cooperate
with that sister nation and we will continue doing so,??? Granma said,
including with Cuban volunteer medical workers.
Sanctions hit Petrocaribe countries
In 2005 Venezuela initiated the Petrocaribe program. It grew to sell oil
to some 18 Caribbean and Latin American nations with favorable prices
and payment terms. But with the precipitous drop of Venezuelan oil
production over the last several years, caused by a growing social and
economic crisis in the country, combined with the impact of the U.S.
sanctions, those nations have received almost no oil in months.
Haiti, one of these countries, now can only provide electricity three
hours a day in much of the country. Some hospitals run on backup
generators and gasoline sells for as much as $12 a gallon on the black
market. The U.S. rulers have done nothing to offer any aid.
The Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Venezuela???s state-owned oil
company PDVSA in January aimed at preventing all crude oil exports,
especially targeting Cuba. In April it placed full sanctions on 34 ships
owned or operated by PDVSA, including a Greek tanker. A week later,
Washington extended the sanctions to four shipping companies and nine
oil tankers from Liberia and Italy.
Nonetheless, some shipping companies ??? seeing opportunities to make
profits ??? are defying Washington???s violation of Venezuelan and Cuban
sovereignty. Washington hopes that the new measure will bring more of
them to heel.
In a speech to the Cuba???s National Assembly April 10, Ra??l Castro, first
secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, said revolutionary Cuba will
remain resolute in the face of the U.S. squeeze.
???We will never abandon the duty to act in solidarity with Venezuela. We
have told the North American administration with the greatest clarity,
firmness and serenity, through direct diplomatic channels and publicly,
that Cuba does not fear the threats,??? he said.
???It is in the interest of working people everywhere to oppose U.S.
imperialism???s aggressive moves, which are aimed at punishing the workers
and farmers of Venezuela and Cuba,??? Anthony Dutrow, Socialist Workers
Party candidate for Miami City Commission said July 9. ???We call on
Washington to keep its hands off Cuba and Venezuela, lift all its
punishing sanctions, end U.S. imperialism???s economic warfare, and stop
violating the sovereignty of those peoples.???
In This Issue
Front Page Articles ???US hands off Iran! End sanctions now!
???2020 election debates show crisis of bosses twin parties
???Almost half of all US workers live ???paycheck to paycheck???
??????Working people need to break with Democrats, Republicans???
???US rulers step up economic war against Cuba and Venezuela
??????Militant??? fights censorship by Florida, Kansas prison officials
Feature Articles ???Ethiopian Israelis fight police brutality, racism
Also In This Issue ???Protests mark 2 years since Grenfell fire disaster in
UK
???Sudan military lifts siege, agrees to rule with opposition
???50,000 New Zealand teachers shut the schools down, win higher pay
???Kansas Department of Corrections Letter
Editorials ???Join fight against prison censorship!
On the Picket Line ???Airport, catering workers say, ???One job should be
enough!???
???Ramp workers protest working conditions at Miami airport
???Indiana Machinists strike for health care, living wages
???New Zealand workers who care for disabled strike for contract
Books of the Month ??????Mandela pays tribute to Cuba???s internationalist
fighters???
25, 50 and 75 years ago
?? Copyright 2019 The Militant?? -?? 306 W. 37th Street, 13th floor -?? New
York, NY 10018?? -?? themilitant@xxxxxx
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Voltaire
??? Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit
atrocities. ???
??? Voltaire,
