WORLD TRADE WT/FIFTY/H/ST/12
19May1998
ORGANIZATION(98-2076)
50thANNIVERSARY Original: Spanish
Geneva, 19May1998
CUBA
Statement byHisExcellency Dr.Fidel Castro Ruz,
President
LastMarch, theUnited States Government made public the"1998 Trade Policy Agenda of
theUnited States" where itwasliterally indicated thatitissettobe"aggressive, directed globally and
atallkeyregions oftheworld"; that"asthemost important andsuccessful economy intheglobal
trading system, theUnited States isinastrong position touseispowers ofpersuasion andinfluence
topursue thisAgenda"; andthat"despite thesubstantial market openings thathavebeenachieved
inrecent years, thereremain toomany barriers toUnited States goods andservices exports throughout
theworld". Such language isdisquieting.
Together withthis,inSeptember 1995 following aUnited States initiative, eventhough the
WorldTradeOrganizationalreadyexistedwith132Membercountriesindifferentstagesofdevelopment,
discussionsbeganintheOrganizationofEconomicCooperationandDevelopment(OECD),anexclusive
FirstWorld Club towork outaMultilateral Agreement onInvestments.
Duetoproblems obviously related tothesovereignty ofStates, thesubsequent ideatonegotiate
thatagreement intheWorld Trade Organization wasstrongly opposed bynumerous Members atthe
Ministerial Conference heldinSingapore inDecember 1996. However, theAgreements reached there
didnotprevent theOECD -made upasIsaidbydeveloped countries -from proceeding withthe
elaboration oftheMultilateral Agreement onInvestments.
Attempts bytheUnited States tointroduce keyaspects oftheHelms-Burton Actinsaid
Agreement ledthenegotiations toastandstill, leaving onlytheUnited States andEurope involved while
theother 13OECD member nations were leftout.
Theabove-mentioned Actillustrates theUnited States behaviour initseconomic waragainst
Cuba. Theextraterritorial nature ofthese andother measures ledtheEuropean Union torequest from
theWTO theestablishment ofaSpecial Panel which wasthenapproved on20November 1996.
Later on,by11April 1997 anunderstanding wasreached onthebasis ofcertain American
pledgesassociatedwiththeimplementationof,andamendmentsto,theHelms-BurtonAct.TheEuropean
Union, toavoid weakening theWTO, agreed totemporarily suspend thecommencement oftheSpecial
Panel activities.
Anamazing andshrewd manoeuvre hadallowed theUnited States toleavethedockattheWTO
andundertake tolaying down newrules ininternational lawwithin theframework oftheOECD in
anattempt toretroactively insert intheMultilateral Agreement onInvestments thesupposed illegality
ofthenationalizations conducted inthelate1950s -adateexactly coinciding withthetriumph ofthe
Revolution inCuba -aprinciple thatcanalsobeapplied tonationalizations carried outinothercountries
after1959, theintention being tointernationalize theprinciples oftheinfamous Helms-Burton Act
under theumbrella ofamultilateral agreement. ThatAct,which hasnotbeenamended atall,hasWT/FIFTY/H/ST/12
Page2
arbitrarily turned people whowereCuban citizens atthetimeoftheexpropriations intoexpropriated
Americans.
Actually,theextraterritorialprincipleoftheblockadehadbeeninforcelongbeforethatshameful
Actcameintoexistence.TheUnitedStatesAdministrationpreventseveryAmericancompany,whatever
thecountry where itisbased, from trading withCuba. Thatconstitutes aviolation ofsovereignty
andisextraterritorial bynature. There areplenty ofreasons fortheworld tofeelhumiliated andbe
concerned, andtheWTO should becapable ofpreventing aneconomic genocide. Disputes between
theUnited States andtheEuropean Union about thislawshould notbesettled attheexpense ofCuba.
Thatwould beaninconceivable dishonour forEurope. Theagreements announced inLondon yesterday
areunclear, contradictory andthreatening formany countries, aswellasunethical. Theeconomic
blockade hasalready costCuba US$60 billion.
Inthelastfewyears, theUnited States hasapproved over40lawsandexecutive decisions
toapplyunilateraleconomicsanctionsagainst75nationsrepresenting42percentoftheworldpopulation.
TheUnited States obtained practically everything itwanted withtheagreements leading to
theestablishment oftheWTO, andparticularly theGeneral Agreement onServices, anolddream.
Thesame applies totheAgreement onTrade-Related Aspects ofIntellectual Property Rights, afield
where itholds aprivileged control thanks toitstechnological development andsystematic plundering
ofthebestminds intheworld. Some ofitspatents havereceived upto50years ofexclusive rights
andithasadditionally obtained other highly beneficial agreements.
TheUnited States alsohasthepeculiar privilege ofissuing thecurrency inwhich thecentral
banks andthetrade bank deposits worldwide keep most oftheir hard currency reserves. The
transnational companies ofthenation whose citizens havethelowest saving ratesarepurchasing the
world riches withthemoney saved bypeople inother countries andthemoney printed without the
goldbacking agreed upon inBretton Woods, andunilaterally ended in1971.
Therefore, iftheEurocurrency emerges asastrong andprestigious currency, welcome the
Euro! Itwould beofbenefit totheworld economy!
Newthemes introduced intheWTO 'sagenda bythewealthy countries arethreatening with
areduction ofthedeveloping countries 'competitive possibilities, thatinthemidst ofalready difficult
conditions fraught withinequalities, which willcertainly beusedaspretexts fornon-tariff barriers
ortoprevent theircommodities from acceding tothemarkets.
TheThird World countries havebeenloosing everything: custom tariffs thatprotected their
emerging industries andproduced revenues; agreements onbasiccommodities; producers associations;
priceindexation; preferential treatment; anyinstrument protecting theirexports value andcontributing
totheirdevelopment. What areweoffered?
Whyisn'ttheunfair andunbalanced trade mentioned? Whyistheunbearable weight ofthe
external debtnolonger discussed? Why istheofficial Development Aidbeing reduced? Ifevery
developed country didlikeNorway, theThird World would annually haveUS$200 billion forits
development. Norway should beimitated!
Howarewesupposed tomake aliving? What goods andservices shallweexport? Which
industrial productions willbelefttous?Onlythose withatechnology gapandahighinput ofhuman
labour, andthehighly pollutants? Might thisbeanattempt toturnalarge partoftheThird World
intoanimmense freezonefullofassembly plants thatdonotevenpaytaxes?WT/FIFTY/H/ST/12
Page3
Why isthestrongest economic power intheworld obstructing China 'saccess totheWTO
when thatcountry shelters onefifthoftheworld population? Whydoesitjeopardize theadmission
ofRussia andother countries? Nonation, bigorsmall, canbeleftoutofthisimportant institution,
norshould it;anditsadmission cannot besubjected tohumiliating conditions.
Thedeveloping countries mustfendoffdivisions. Unity isouronlyasset, theonlyguaranty
inthedefense ofourlegitimate aspirations.
Those ofuswhowere colonies yesterday andarestilltoday enduring theconsequences of
backwardness, poverty andunderdevelopment, wearethemajority inthisorganization. Every one
ofushastherighttoavoteandnoonehastherighttoveto. Weshould turnthisorganization into
aninstrument ofthestruggle foramorejustandbetter world. Weshould alsocount onthose responsible
statesmen, sensitive toourrealities, whocanundoubtedly befound inmany developed countries.
Despite somuch euphoria noonecanbesureofhowlongtheUnited States economic system,
ruled bytheblind lawsofthemarket economy, willbeabletoprevent afinancial meltdown. There
arenoeconomic miracles. Thatisclearnow. Theabsurdly inflated stock prices inthestock exchange
markets ofthateconomy -unquestionably thestrongest intheworld -cannot besustained. Insimilar
situations history isnotknown tohavemade exceptions. Theproblem isthatnowabigcrisis would
goglobal andhaveunforeseeable consequences. Noteventheadversaries oftheprevailing system
could wishthattohappen.
Itwould beworthwhile fortheWTO toassess these risks andinclude among theso-called
"new themes" another one: "Global Economic Crisis. What todo?"
__________