The blockade policy imposed by United States again Cuba* Throughout these last 44 years, a total of 10 different U.S. administrations have merely reinforced and expanded the complex system of laws and measures that make up the blockade established by the U.S. government against the people of Cuba. This policy has inflicted and continues to inflict serious and onerous damages on the Cuban people's material, psychological and spiritual welfare, while seriously hindering its economic, cultural and social development. Preliminary studies show that the damages resulting from the application of this genocidal policy against Cuba now surpass 72 billion U.S. dollars. This is a conservative figure, and does not include the more than 54 billion dollars in direct damages caused to Cuban economic and social targets through acts of sabotage and terrorism promoted, organized and financed from the United States. While these economic sanctions and restrictions have been accompanied throughout more than four decades by initiatives to create, finance and direct internal subversion on the island, this particular administration has increased open support for the subversion of Cuban constitutional order to unprecedented levels. The U.S. Interests Section in Havana has been used to provide resources and financing and issue instructions to groups of mercenaries paid by and working for the superpower, with the aim of fomenting subversive and pro-annexation activities within Cuba. This is a clear violation and challenge to Cuban institutionality and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Added to all of this is the decision by President George W. Bush to designate and promote officials with an openly anti-Cuban stance to key positions in the U.S. government. The consistently threatening discourse of President Bush and these officials with regard to Cuba is clear evidence of the dangers facing the Cuban people. Some of them have gone so far as to state that military aggression against Cuba has not been definitively ruled out. The U.S. government uses its powerful media to inundate public opinion in the United States and around the world with a demonized image of the political, economic and social system that the Cuban people have freely chosen for themselves, by an overwhelming majority. At the same time, however, it seeks to silence the international community's rejection of the genocidal policy of blockade, under which numerous generations of Cubans have suffered. As if this contempt and violation of international law were not sufficient, in 1996 the United States adopted the so-called Helms-Burton Act, aimed not only at obstructing trade between Cuba and the rest of the world, but also at halting the incipient process of foreign investment in Cuba in the form of capital, technology and markets. With this legislation, the United States assumed the right to officially and publicly decide on issues that should be exclusive attributes of the sovereignty of other states. HEALTH CARE The restrictions imposed on the acquisition of medical supplies and technology from the United States for use in the national health care system, the obstacles to medical treatment that this entails, and the lack of access to advanced scientific and medical information have caused considerable damage to Cuban public health care services. The impossibility of acquiring the necessary medicines or equipment has sometimes prevented Cuban doctors from saving lives or relieving suffering, resulting in physical and psychological damage to patients, their families and medical professionals themselves. FOOD The blockade measures affect imports of food products destined for the Cuban population, both for direct consumption in the home and social consumption in schools, old age homes, hospitals and daycare centers. They have a direct impact on the people's nutritional levels and consequently on their health. The prohibitions imposed by the U.S. government on the export of food products to the United States led to 114 million dollars in losses for Cuba in the year 2002 alone. EDUCATION The intensification of the genocidal policy of blockade over the last decade has had a significant impact on the supply of basic materials for the education of Cuban students. Due to the restrictions imposed on Cuba by the blockade, the buying power for the importing of materials and resources for Cuban schools has decreased by 25% to 30% since the early 1990s, since these goods must now be acquired in distant markets, and sometimes at higher prices. In the year 2002 alone, CULTURE For more than 40 years, the blockade has deprived the peoples of the United States and Cuba of the valuable cultural expressions of both nations by limiting or prohibiting the presence in Cuba and the United States of the principal exponents of their art and literature. The damages to this sector are reflected, among other aspects, in the impossibility of access to the U.S. market of cultural goods and services for the acquisition of the necessary resources for artistic creation and training, as well as for the functioning of the cultural industries. They are also felt in the obstacles to the enjoyment of the exercise of the intellectual rights of our creators, and in the exclusion of Cuba from hemispheric meetings of Ministers of Culture. One of the most ridiculous measures applied by the U.S. government is the prohibition on performances by Cuban artists in that country for commercial ends. EXPORTS It is estimated that in the year 2002, the U.S. blockade caused 685 million dollars in damages to Cuban foreign trade, a figure that is 41.8 million dollars higher than in 2001. In 2002, the losses incurred by Cuba through purchases at higher prices than those it would have received under normal conditions totaled 403.5 million dollars. As a result of more unfavorable financing conditions, the country lost 62.3 million dollars, along with an additional 65.8 million due to higher transportation and freight costs. Moreover, as a result of lost income, Cuban exports suffered 119.2 million dollars in damages. These resources could have been used by Cuba to purchase 100,000 metric tons of chicken, plus an equal amount of corn and bread flour, half a metric ton of paddy rice and 20,000 metric tons of soy beans. TRAVELS. EXCHANGES The restriction of the freedom to travel, through sanctions and threats against U.S. citizens who want to visit Cuba, along with the denial of visas for scientists, artists, athletes and other Cuban personalities, are the measures most commonly used to obstruct this exchange. There are countless regulations that prevent U.S. citizens from traveling to Cuba. The sanctions established for the violation of these regulations include prison sentences of up to 10 years and fines of up to a million dollars for corporations and 250,000 for private citizens. Civil penalties of up to 55,000 dollars for each violation can also be applied. U.S. guitarist Ry Cooder, one of the individuals responsible for the international success of the Buena Vista Social Club, was forced by his government to suspend his collaboration with Cuban musicians. The government of President George W. Bush prohibited him from returning to work with musicians on the island and imposed a fine of 100,000 dollars on him, in accordance with the stipulations of the blockade. Cooder had worked with Cuban artists like Compay Segundo, Omara Portuondo, Eliades Ochoa and Ibrahím Ferrer, winners of a Grammy for the Buena Vista Social Club and nominees for an Oscar thanks to the documentary of the same name by German director Wim Wenders | 
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