Brazil's president calls U.S. economic embargo on Cuba 'illegal,' condemns terrorist list label
Brazil's president calls U.S. economic embargo on Cuba 'illegal,' condemns terrorist list label
On his first trip to Cuba during his third term in office, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called the embargo imposed by the United States on the island "illegal" and denounced the island's inclusion on the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
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Yeah. No. Like, I'm not a fan of the embargo, I don't see any purpose to it.
That being said, it is patently idiotic to say that it's illegal for the US to not want to trade with Cuba. Brazil can trade with whoever they want and embargo whoever they want. Same with the US. It's called national sovereignty. If the US was interdicting shipping going to Cuba, or blocking air traffic, or whatever, then he might have a point, but that's not happening.
US trade policy with Cuba might be unproductive and ill advised, but it is dishonest to say that it is an illegal policy. It's never illegal to not trade with a certain country. Cuba doesn't have a right under international law to sell their exports to American consumers.
I don't think you understand the extent of this "embargo". It goes far beyond simply not trading with them.
It's not a direct blockade, but the US has in the past threatened to cut off financial aid to any country that trades with Cuba, disallows foreign subsidiaries of US companies to trade, and even threatens sanctions upon foreign companies that do any trade in or with the US that also trade in Cuba. They've also begun attempting to strangle their tourism, by disqualifying any person who visits the island from ESTA - which lets citizens from countries like those in the EU visit the US visa-free. This makes travel extremely difficult, requiring a costly and time consuming visa application which could be denied.
The UN has voted to condemn it every year for many years, with usually only the US and Israel voting against. They say it is a violation of international law and the UN charter. (https://www.un.org/en/ga/62/plenary/cuba/bkg.shtml)
It is abhorrent and unjustifiable, and has a real cost in human lives and suffering.
As someone who just lost their ESTA, this whole thing is bullshit.
I’m a citizen of an European country, left Cuba when I was a minor and have zero interest in going to Cuba.
Yet I can’t go see my daughter in the USA without a visa.
Literally last week I was at the US Embassy requesting the visa, they gave me a 10 year pass (thank fuck).
But my whole family has to go through the same process. It’s all bullshit. I had to wait in line for two hours, in a city that’s far away from where I live, just to get the visa.
Edit: not to mention that this whole process takes hundreds of euros, around 150€ just for filling their online form, then add travel and accommodation expenses.
That's all legal actions the US can take.
You and I agree that they're unwise and unjustified. But they're legal.
The UN says it's in violation of international law, he literally gave you a link...
The UN is a political organization and says whatever countries vote it to say. It's also not a legislative organization, it's basically a big political club of people who like to write strongly worded letters about things. Only the UNSC has teeth, and that hasn't declared it illegal for obvious reasons.
The USA is a political organisation.
Okay, I suppose, but it's also a sovereign nation, whole the UN is not
The UN is like 198 sovereign nations
And yet, it isn't sovereign