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UNCLAS STATE 115034 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: UNGA ETRD PHUM UN CU
SUBJECT: INSTRUCTIONS FOR CUBA EMBARGO RESOLUTION 
 
¶1.  The Department instructs USUN to vote against the 
resolution, "Necessity of Ending the Economic, 
Commercial, and Financial Embargo Imposed by the United 
States of America against Cuba," scheduled for 
consideration by the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, 
October 29.  USUN should draw on the following points in 
making its intervention during the debate. 
 
¶2. Begin points: 
 
-- Mr. President: 
 
-- Our position on this resolution is well known.  Each 
of the member states of this organization has the 
sovereign right to conduct its trade with another 
country as it sees fit subject only to the treaty 
obligations it has freely undertaken.  As a bilateral 
issue relating to the efforts of the United States to 
mitigate the impact of the Cuban government's repressive 
policies toward its own people, we believe it is highly 
inappropriate that the UN General Assembly consider this 
resolution.  As we have noted in the past, many other 
states or regional groups at various times have taken 
action to restrict their exports to and imports from 
other states for a variety of reasons.  There is no 
doubt that members states represented here today would 
vigorously defend their right to determine their own 
national trade policy if it were called into question. 
 
-- Cuba asserts that economic sanctions imposed by the 
United States on the Cuban government cause serious 
damage to the welfare of the Cuban people.  In fact, as 
we have conclusively demonstrated since the General 
Assembly first began debating this resolution in 1992, 
U.S. trade policy toward Cuba is carefully designed to 
permit the Cuban people access to food and humanitarian 
goods, but to limit the ability of Cuba's repressive 
government to benefit and consolidate power through its 
authoritarian control over the Cuban economy.  Our trade 
policy above all seeks to keep away from Cuba's leaders 
resources that they would use to strengthen their 
repressive political and economic system. 
 
-- Indeed, the American people remain the largest 
providers of humanitarian aid to the Cuban people.  In 
2007, the American people provided $240.5 million in 
private humanitarian assistance in the form of gift 
parcels filled with food and other basic necessities 
($179.4 million), non-agricultural humanitarian 
donations ($20.6 million), and medical donations ($40.5 
million). 
 
-- In addition to offering U.S. Government assistance, 
the U.S. has increased existing authorizations for U.S.- 
based NGOs to provide larger amounts of humanitarian 
assistance, including in the form of cash donations, to 
help address the basic needs of the Cuban people. We 
have already authorized over $10 million in private cash 
donations. 
 
-- This year, the United States has been especially 
sensitive to the plight of the Cuban people in light of 
the devastation wrought by hurricanes throughout the 
Caribbean.  Cuba has suffered great damage from 
Hurricanes Gustav and Ike since the end of August.  Some 
assistance has been delivered through non-governmental 
relief and humanitarian organizations, but more is 
needed to help the Cuban people, and under these 
extraordinary circumstances the U.S. Government stands 
ready to provide that assistance.  The U.S. Government 
has offered - on four separate occasions - to provide 
the Cuban people with up to $5 million in emergency 
humanitarian assistance to those in dire need. 
 
-- On September 3, 2008 the U.S. Government issued a 
disaster declaration in response to the damage caused by 
Hurricane Gustav and made available $100,000 in cash 
relief assistance to humanitarian organizations working 
in Cuba.  The U.S. Government also offered to provide a 
humanitarian assessment team to assist in producing 
rapid emergency assessments of health, sanitation, 
water, shelter and food supply.  That offer was rejected 
by the Cuban government. 
 
-- In the wake of the damage caused by Hurricane Ike, 
the U.S. Government set aside an additional $200,000 for 
non-governmental relief organizations, and reiterated 
our offer to provide a humanitarian assessment team. 
Again, the Cuban government rejected our offer. 
 
-- On September 13, 2008 the U.S. Government offered a 
relief package of roughly $5 million that included an 
unconditional offer of humanitarian assistance to 
benefit 135,000 Cuban hurricane victims and continued 
assistance to non-governmental relief organizations. 
For the third time, the Cuban government rejected our 
offer. 
 
-- On September 19, 2008 the U.S. Government offered 
unconditionally to provide relief supplies directly to 
the Government of Cuba at a value of approximately $5 
million.  These supplies are composed of family 
emergency shelters and household kits which could assist 
up to 48,000 Cubans affected by the hurricanes.  The 
Cuban government has not responded to this offer of 
assistance. 
 
-- As is well known, U.S. law permits the sale of 
medicine, medical supplies and agricultural products to 
Cuba.  The United States is Cuba's top supplier of food. 
U.S. producers exported $446 million in agricultural 
products to Cuba in 2007.  Since Hurricane Ike struck 
Cuba on September 7, the U.S. has licensed $396 million 
in agricultural sales to Cuba.  Lumber, an important 
reconstruction material, is included within this 
category of agricultural sales.  The United States has 
authorized $53 million in humanitarian donations by U.S. 
entities to hurricane victims, including building 
materials to help storm victims to repair their homes. 
We have also authorized gift parcel consolidators to 
export $124 million in gift parcels to Cuba. 
 
-- Despite this clear demonstration of U.S. interest in 
the welfare of the Cuban people, Cuban officials, 
including their Chief of Mission in Washington Jorge 
Bolanos, continue to make outrageous statements about 
the nature of U.S. sanctions.  It is indicative of the 
lack of interest the Castro regime has in the well-being 
of its own people that it would refuse sincere offers of 
assistance, choosing instead to prolong their suffering 
as a pretext for proposing resolutions such as the one 
we vote on today. 
 
-- In conclusion Mr. President, let me remind this 
assembly that the real reason the Cuban economy is in 
terrible condition and that so many Cubans remain mired 
in poverty, is that Cuba's regime continues to deny its 
people their basic human and economic rights.  Indeed, 
one  Latin American observer once described Cuba as an 
"undeveloping" country thanks to the policies of the 
Castro regime that have turned it from one of the 
region's most prosperous economies to one of the 
poorest.  We again invite the member states, as we have 
done consistently in debating this resolution in past 
years, to reject the false arguments of the Cuban 
government and focus on effecting a transition in Cuba 
that would restore its people's fundamental rights. 
 
End points. 
RICE