From: HANLY-AT-BrandonU.CA
Date: Fri, 01 Mar 1996 11:34:07 -0600 (CST)
Subject: Cuba and US Imperialism


As far as I can see no one remarked on the CUBA US crisis as evidence of
US imperialism. Nothing at all has been said about the US congress attempt to
pass a bill that would in effect punish companies in other countries who
trade with Cuba by making them subject to lawsuits. Here you have the
great promoter of Free Trade, NAFTA and GATT restricting trade on political
grounds and probably counter to both agreements. The US thinks that it
can impose its laws on other countries. Earlier these extra-territorial
"imperliastic" legal manoeuvres were used to punish US subsidiaries who might
try to trade with Cuba from outside the US. In effect the US was saying that
foreign subsidiaries must obey US laws banning exports to Cuba and not
the laws of the country of residence which allows such sales. Now the US has
gone much farther and is going to punish any country that trades with Cuba.
Even such craven fellow-travellers of US policy as Chile are aghast at the
legislation proposed. Did no one on this list notice this aspect of the
situation?
   Our Minister of Foreign Affairs ,Lloyd Axworthy spoke on TV this morning
about the crisis. After genuflecting to the US (he actually seemed to have a
slight smile on his face) with rhetoric about the shameful shooting down of the
planes and the nastiness of the Cuban dictatorship he went on to say some
rather surprising things. For example, he said just after this that there
were Cuban exile groups who thought it was their job to provoke such incidents
and that partly they were trying to put Clinton on the spot and insure that
the punitive anti-Castro legislation went through. No doubt they also wished
to provoke the whinings and pious anti-Castro moralizing
 of our local peacemongers  on the Marxism list.
  CHeers, Ken Hanly



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