The US Blockade Against Cuba Affects European Companies: Raoul

In an interview with teleSUR, Belgian Labor Party lawmaker Hedebouw Raoul analyzed the role that the European Union (EU) plays in the prolongation of the U.S. sanctions against Cuba.

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"On many issues we have a problem: Europe has stuck to the tow of the American imperialism and follows its agenda," he said.

"I know many politicians, men and women who even militate in traditional parties, who consider that the blockade against Cuba is both illegitimate and a problem."

Despite the foregoing, the European political elites do not dare to frontally adopt an independent foreign policy from Washington's designs. And this is reflected in the EU institutions and their actions.

"There are resolutions of the Belgian Federal Parliament that recognize the existence of the problem. However, that is not the case with the European Union, which does not dare to politically demand that the United States lift the embargo," Raoul said.

"The blockade affects European companies that want to do business with Cuba. A ship that docks in Cuba cannot subsequently dock in U.S. ports. Seen from a commercial perspective, this is a problem for the shipping company."

The U.S. blockade is the consequence of an extensive legal framework that contains regulations to limit economic relations that Cubans could carry out. Although it initially excluded food and medicine, the U.S. harassment hardened in 1962, imposing almost total restrictions on all imports.