Havana, April 21 (RHC) The U.S. State Department imposed a 5.9-million-dollar fine on the Dutch CWT B.V. travel agency for having commercial relations with Cuba.
The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control punished the Dutch company for having programmed business trips to and from the island since 2006, when its capital largely went to American owners.
According to the U.S. office, possible violations of the US blockade by the Dutch company took place between August 8, 2006 and November 28, 2013 due to negotiations in which “Cuba or its nationals had interests” and these operations involved trips to Cuba by 44 thousand 430 people.
This is not the first time that Washington punishes a Dutch company for doing transactions with Cuba, which exposes the extra-territorial nature of the US blockade against the island.
In 2012, the US Office fined the ING Bank with 619 million dollars and in 2010 another four banks were forced to jointly pay over 502 million dollars for similar reasons.
The US anti-Cuba measure has cost the people of Cuba over one trillion, 157 billion dollars and it entails a violation of the UN Charter and International Law.
The US blockade has been overwhelmingly condemned by the international community over the past 22 years at the UN General Assembly.