BY WAY of a protest statement by the Jamaica-Cuba Friendship Association, it has come to public knowledge that the Bank of Nova Scotia has discontinued maintaining accounts for the Cuban Embassy in Jamaica in U.S. currency.
The Canadian-based bank operating under Jamaican law here says it is complying with the directives of the U.S. Patriot Act that Cuban Embassy accounts should be maintained in local currency. Furthermore, the bank has stated that it will no longer be able to facilitate transactions for the Cuban Embassy involving cross-border transfers or international drafts. The reason stated is that the parent company in Canada operates in several jurisdictions and has to comply with international laws.
We are not aware that American law is international law or can override Jamaican law in our jurisdiction.
The expressed purpose of the hastily passed Patriot Act, as stated in its preamble, was "to deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and around the world, to enhance law enforcement investigatory tools, and for other purposes." In the United States itself concerns about the potential violation of civil liberties there have led to the amendment of the Patriot Act to incorporate no fewer than 30 civil liberties safeguards.
We are not aware that the new banking stipulations have been applied to any other legitimate diplomatic mission operating in Jamaica. In effect, the Cuban Government and its embassy here have been branded terrorist organisations to which the provisions of the anti-terrorist Patriot Act must be applied across the world. The Cuban-American conflict over the communism of the Castro regime has descended to a new low.
The power of the U.S. dollar as the leading currency in which international business is conducted is now being used to apply further pressure to Cuba under the very thin disguise of the Patriot Act, and could easily be used to exclude others from the international market.
We raise the issue here because of its diplomatic significance. There is no Jamaican law barring any embassy from operating accounts in any currency in any of the banks operating here. The sovereign Jamaican Government maintains normal diplomatic relations with Cuba for which we do not need and have not sought U.S. permission. The international community does not consider or recognise Cuba as a terrorist threat to any other state at this time.
The matter of the cancellation of the U.S. dollar accounts of the Cuban Embassy is significantly bigger than a private banking matter or even as another dimension of the Cuban-American struggle. The Jamaican Government cannot and should not avoid engaging the issue at the diplomatic level. The threat is not merely to Cuba, but to our own sovereignty. While we cherish our friendship and our very productive relations with the United States these cannot be on any terms dictated by the other side. An unofficial friendship association cannot be the sole voice of protest.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
