Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07STATE150043
2007-10-29 18:45:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Secretary of State
Cable title:  

VOTING INSTRUCTION ON CUBA EMBARGO RESOLUTION

Tags:  ETRD PHUM UN CU 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 STATE 150043 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETRD PHUM UN CU
SUBJECT: VOTING INSTRUCTION ON CUBA EMBARGO RESOLUTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 STATE 150043

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETRD PHUM UN CU
SUBJECT: VOTING INSTRUCTION ON CUBA EMBARGO RESOLUTION


1. This is an action request. USUN is instructed to vote
against the resolution on the Necessity of Ending the
Economic, Commercial and Financial Embargo imposed by the
United States of America against Cuba, to be considered by
the UN General Assembly on October 30, drawing on the
points in para 2 for use in the discussion and the
explanation of vote, and drawing on points in para 3 in
exercising the right of reply.


2. Begin Points:

-- As in years past, the United States rises to point out
the fundamental fact that the United States' exercise of
its sovereign right to decide whether and to what extent to
trade with another government
is a bilateral issue, and as such, should not come before

the General Assembly. We note that many other states or
regional groups have from time to time determined to
restrict transactions with others for a variety of reasons.
They should consider whether this resolution sets a
precedent they would find comfortable in other contexts.

-- Cuba's problems derive not from any decision of the
United States, but from the embargo on
freedom that the Cuban regime has imposed on its own
people.


-- The Cuban government denies its people information,
access to the outside world, the right to travel, and the
opportunities for Cubans to better their lives
economically.

-- We maintain our policy of directing aid and trade into
the hands of the Cuban people to break the absolute
control that the Cuban regime holds over the resources
that the Cuban people need.

-- According to the Cuban
Government's own trade statistics, the United States has
exported nearly $2 billion in agricultural, medical, and
humanitarian goods to Cuba since 2002. We are one of
Cuba's largest suppliers of food, one of Cuba's largest
suppliers of imports, and one of Cuba's largest trading
partners. In 2006 alone we authorized the provision of
over $270 million of food and medicines by private
citizens and organizations, making the American people the
largest providers of humanitarian aid to the Cuban people
in the world.

-- Now more than ever, we invite the member states
considering this resolution to reject the arguments of the
Cuban government and focus on effecting a transition in
Cuba that would restore its people's fundamental rights.


-- We also encourage member states and NG0s.to promote free
and unfettered access to the internet in Cuba by all Cubans,
to support independent libraries and journalists, and to
broaden educational

opportunities for all Cuban youth, not just a privileged
few.

-- Finally, we call on the international community to join
together in demanding that the Cuban government
unconditionally release all political prisoners as the
essential step in beginning a process that restores to the
Cuban people their basic human rights.

-- It is long past time that the Cuban people enjoy the
blessings of economic and political freedom. Instead of
voting in favor of this resolution condemning the U.S.
for declining to engage in unrestricted financial
transactions with a regime that deprives its own people of
their fundamental human rights that this body is charged
with protecting, we urge member states to oppose this
resolution and condemn the Cuban government's internal
embargo on freedom, which is the real cause of the suffering
of the Cuban people.


3. Begin points for Right of Reply

-- This resolution inaccurately blames the U.S. for the
hardships of the Cuban people, while
exonerating the Cuban Government's own policies, which

STATE 00150043 002 OF 002


deny the rights of the Cuban people to a fair wage for
their labor, to own a business, or to otherwise exercise
their rights in the marketplace.

-- This resolution also inaccurately claims that the U.S.
embargo is a violation of freedom of navigation - a
blockade. In fact, the
U.S. policy of limiting bilateral transactions with the
Cuban regime does not prevent the rest of the world from
trading with Cuba or providing Cuba with access to food or
medicine.

-- Most seriously, this resolution does not to refer to
the embargo on freedom that the Cuban regime has imposed
on its own people, which even prevents UN and other
international human rights organizations from traveling to
Cuba and meeting freely with the Cuban people.

End Points
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