More than 600,000 gallons of fuel destined for Cuba were detained in the United States, preventing them from reaching the island. The cargo was valued at US$2.8 million. The action is part of the energy suffocation that Cuba has suffered from Washington since last January, with the aim of strangling the island’s economy.
The operation was announced this Wednesday (7), during a press conference in Miami. José R. Figueroa, special agent responsible for Homeland Security Investigations — HSI, for its acronym in English — presented the case alongside representatives from Customs and Border Protection and the United States Department of Commerce.
According to US authorities, the operation was carried out in early September, when 71 loads containing approximately 500,000 gallons of biodiesel were “seized”, held at the port of Port Everglades, in Florida. Another 19 cargoes, weighing around 120,000 gallons, were detained at the port of Houston, Texas.
US authorities allege that the fuel was destined for Enetec SA, a Cuban state-owned company dedicated to the import and export of fuels and lubricants. Last July, the company was included by Washington among the entities subject to unilateral coercive measures (so-called “sanctions”).
After the announcement, Cuban Vice Chancellor Carlos Fernández de Cossío questioned the actions of the United States and defended the legality of fuel trade operations with Cuba. On his social networks, he stated that the import of fuels by Cuban state and private entities from any country is legal according to International Law.
“What is illegal is to intimidate sovereign states with threats of reprisals from the US government if they export fuel to Cuba or against exporting or transport companies from any country for participating in commercial operations of this nature. It is illegal to pursue and intercept in international waters ships that transport fuel to Cuba, just as piracy and looting are illegal,” he stated.
Fernández de Cossío also classified as “illegal, immoral and criminal” the United States policy of subjecting the Cuban people to “economic asphyxiation as collective punishment for political ends.”
Use of force
This Wednesday’s announcement comes just days after the United States Coast Guard confirmed another operation against a fuel cargo bound for Cuba.
Last Friday (2), the agency reported that, at the beginning of September, it had also intercepted the ship Gracewhich transported fuel to the island. The vessel, approximately 91 meters long, was militarily boarded in the Caribbean Sea and forced to withdraw towards Progreso, Mexico.
The exact amount of fuel carried by the Grace was not disclosed. Neither the country of origin of the cargo nor its supplier was publicly disclosed. The ship’s last known port of call was Colón, Panama, and maritime tracking records indicate it left the country on August 31, before the interception.
The Coast Guard accused the Grace of being part of a “dark fleet”, a term used by US authorities to refer to vessels that hide their operations or make it difficult to track their cargo.
The agency also reported that, during the “boreal summer”, it had carried out a similar military operation against the Jaira Provideranother vessel that, according to Washington, was transporting fuel to Cuba and which was boarded and detained. In this case, US authorities stated that the ship was carrying around 795 thousand liters of diesel.
Source: www.brasildefato.com.br
