On March 12, 1996, the President of the United States (USA) William J. Clinton signed and enforced the so-called Law of Cuban Freedom and Democratic Solidarity of 1996, or Libertad Law, better known by the names of its main promoters, the Republican senator from North Carolina, Jesse Helms, and the Democratic representative from Illinois, Dan Burton, but with which the most conservative and ultra-right sectors of the American and Cuban-American political spectrum are committed.
As of May of 1996 and up to the present time, the Department of State notifies by means of Letters of Warning to investment companies in Cuba in the so-called "confiscated properties".
The law establishes that any non-US company that deals with Cuba may be subject to legal reprisals, and that company leaders may be barred from entering the United States. This meant that international companies had to choose between trading with Cuba or trading with the United States, which is a much larger market.
From the political point of view, this law aims to increase the climate of hostility in US policy towards Cuba, to force the destruction of the Cuban Revolution, and, from the economic point of view, to intimidate by all possible means to foreign businessmen to try to avoid investments and international trade with Cuba.
Since May 2, with the activation of Titles III and IV of the Helms-Burton Act, Washington has put into effect new aggressive measures against the Island, as part of its policy of intensifying the economic, commercial and financial blockade that it maintains for 57 years.
The Helms-Burton Act seeks to universalize the extraterritorial application of the blockade through the use of unlawful pressure from the United States against third countries, their governments and their companies, seeks to suffocate the Cuban economy and, according to its own letter, seeks to impose a government that responds to your interests.
Title III of the Helms-Burton Act allows legal actions in US courts against Cuban and foreign entities, and against businessmen from third countries who have invested or have businesses of some kind involving nationalized goods or properties after 1959.
Meanwhile, Title IV aims to prevent the entry into the United States of business executives and their families, who legally invest in Cuba in the properties that were nationalized.
Although Cuba has always been willing and open to dialogue, it makes it clear that it will not enter into negotiations that imply renouncing our principles and the sovereign right to choose our own path.
The true intention of this legislation is to reserve the economic assets of Cuba for the interests of the large US transnational corporations, and to further damage the legitimate relations of the Greater Antilles with its partners from any part of the world.
All this situation has an economic effect, but another Special Period in our country is impossible. The territory has strong commercial relationships and long-term investment projects with multiple nations.
The new Constitution, the steps taken as part of the Plan of the Economy until 2030, the Guidelines for the Economic and Social Policy of the Party and the Revolution, the internal infrastructure, and other actions within the country create a very different scenario from that of moment.
Advances will always depend, to a large extent, on us and our ability to produce, save and build a future of progress. Cuba remains a benchmark in international politics, with a strong and prestigious diplomacy, essential elements to find alternatives at the global level, without ever forgetting the essence.
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