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DE RUEHC #0043/01 3021902
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O P 291845Z OCT 07
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE 9305
INFO WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS PRIORITY
RUEHUB/USINT HAVANA PRIORITY 4754

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 
RICE