The EU Blocking Statute, designed to protect EU companies from the extraterritorial effects of certain U.S. sanctions laws, also applies to the EU banking system. However, some EU banks have been accused of violating the Statute by blocking transactions with Cuba or with the word “Cuba” in the transaction description, thereby illegally complying with U.S. sanctions.

On 4 November, a bank account set up by the 1c4Cuba campaign in Britain was closed without explanation by Lloyds bank. The bank account was […]

The U.N. voted 185-2 to end the U.S. blockade of Cuba. This is the 30th year in a row the U.N. has voted to do […]

The storm hit the western part of Cuba on 27 September. Civil Defence organisations were mobilised and preparations made for evacuation, with 50,000 people moved out of the affected regions such as Pinar del Río province. Yet the damage is substantial. Two people in Cuba are reported to have died as a result of the Hurricane, and over 4,000 homes were destroyed or damaged. Agriculture, including tobacco-growing enterprises, is badly affected. The storm caused chaos for Cuba’s energy grid, which was totally knocked out across the island for almost two days before gradually being restored in different areas. By midday on 29 September, nearly two thirds of Havana’s residences and half its hospitals still lacked electricity.