Voices of Mexico no. 36

Our Voice

Of all the possible options far its bilateral relations with Cuba, the United States picked a peculiar normative strategy: the Helms-Burton Act. This piece of legislation establish es that all companies which benefit from the use of property in Cuba confiscated from U.S. citizens (many of whom are former Cuban nationals) in the first years of the Revolution may be sued for damages in U.S. courts; among other things, it also denies visas to businessmen who invest in Cuba and block, the importation of prod­ucts with Cuban content. This law has been enacted during the U.S. election campaign, when quick answers are more "successful" than well-thought-out, long-term decisions. In this case, the dynamic of the ephemeral victory won out, reflected immediately in the electoral opinion polls.