U.S. Prevents Spanish Bank from Offering Services to Cuba

Madrid, Sep 10 (Prensa Latina) The economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the U.S. on Cuba over 54 years ago, prevented Spanish Banco Santander from offering services to representatives of the Caribbean island in this country, trascended here today.

A press release of Havana’s embassy in Madrid revealed the system of sanctions of Washington prevented the Santander from having sales outlets at the Cuban General Consulates in the cities of Barcelona, Sevilla and Santiago de Compostela.

‘It is disappointing that three Cuban consulates have been banned from receiving services from a Spanish entity to improve attention to their users’, lamented the Cuban ambassador to Spain, Eugenio Martinez.

The diplomat attributed those restrictions to ‘obscure and unjustified unilateral decisions of the U.S. that affect negatively the Cubans and third countries’.

How is it possible that two months after the visit to Havana of President Barack Obama, last March, a subsidiary of the Santander bank in Catalonia tells the Cuban consul in Barcelona that they could not put an outlet to facilitate users the payment of consular tariffs through magnetic cards, asked Martinez.

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The Co-operative Bank acknowledges extraterritorial application of the blockade in Britain

The bank’s Chief Executive has finally confirmed in writing that the closure was due to the sanctions imposed by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)

Author: Catriona Goss | cati@granma.cu
may 5, 2016 15:05:27

The Co-op Bank closed the accounts of the British Cuba Solidarity Campaign in November 2015. Photo: Getty Images
As reported in GI in March, the Co-op Bank closed the bank accounts of the British Cuba Solidarity Campaign (CSC) in November 2015, citing among the reasons a change in its “risk appetite” and “global regulations”.
Now, following a huge campaign by CSC members and affiliates, the bank’s Chief Executive Niall Booker has finally confirmed in writing that the closure was due to “risk” arising from the sanctions imposed on the island by the U.S. government.
Responding to direct questions from concerned CSC members, Booker stated “It is correct that the sanctions that are in place are those imposed by OFAC.”
As such, the bank has acknowledged the extraterritorial application of the blockade in closing the accounts. Obeying the sanctions imposed by the United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is illegal under British and European Union law.

Continue reading Blockade continues The Co-operative Bank acknowledges extraterritorial application of the blockade in Britain →

Submitted by editor on Thu, 03/05/2015 – 00:00

CUBA, March 5, 2015. The second round of face-to-face talks between diplomats from Cuba and the United States concluded on February 27, with progress made toward implementing measures announced by Presidents Barack Obama and Raúl Castro on December 17.

The meeting took place at the Department of State in the U.S. capital with the aim of opening the way toward restoring relations and the opening of embassies, taking place in a “respectful and professional climate,” according to Josefina Vidal, Ministry of Foreign Relations (Minrex) Director General for the United States and head of the Cuban delegation.
“We had a good meeting and made some progress.”
Roberta Jacobson, assistant secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs and the U.S. host, said that for her part, they had seen, “the type of constructive exchange that advances us toward a more productive diplomatic relationship.”
“In an open, honest, and sometimes challenging yet always respectful conversation, we addressed the requirements of each side and the differences we identified in our first discussion in Havana a month ago, and we made meaningful progress towards resolving them,” she added.

Continue reading The second round of face-to-face talks between diplomats from Cuba and the United States →