This year marks 61 years since the US government enacted a blockade against Revolutionary Cuba after the government nationalised US, and Canadian oil companies. For historical clarity let it not be forgotten that the nationalisation only took place after the Revolutionary government accepted Soviet oil and after the US government pressured the oil companies into refusing to refine the crude oil. Let it also not be forgotten that the companies were offered money, the face value of the companies, but again the government was refused.
Some persons use the word embargo, but it is a blockade and fits almost every definition of the word. An embargo can be defined as an official ban on trade or other commercial activity with a particular country. A blockade on the other hand can be defined as an act or means of sealing off a place to prevent goods or people from entering or leaving. True, Cuba is officially banned from trading with the US, she will not accept Cuban made goods or personnel nor will she send Cuba goods, remittances, or any other form of trade them being banned from the US banking system. On the face of it so far it is a simple embargo, but as always, the devil is in the detail.
Those who are familiar with the Venezuelan or Iranian situation will understand what I speak of. The US dollar was and remains the currency of international trade and of last resort, all trade in some form or another ends up at some point denominated in USD and as a result, at some point, it falls under US jurisdiction. Being unable to access US dollars or trade in US dollars means being shut out of global trade, it means being forced to trade in your own currency which on the face of it is a good thing but in the end results either in fewer people willing to take the financial risk or unwilling to take the geopolitical risks as engaging in trade with a US blacklisted nation means coming under US secondary sanctions and removes you and your company from trading with US firms.
jamaicachange 