President Donald Trump has extended the Trading with the Enemy Act, one of the legal grounds for the decades-old economic, trade and financial blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba.
This is the second time that Trump has extended the validity of the legislation that was first approved in 1917. He did the extension through a memorandum sent to the US Secretary of State and Treasury.
The legislation grants the president the opportunity to apply economic sanctions in periods of war or any other period of national emergency in that nation, as well as banning the trade with the enemy or its allies, during armed conflicts.
It has been in force since the First World War and it is only applied on Cuba in spite of the White House never declaring a national emergency in relation to Cuba.
Those restrictions prohibit Americans or people subject to the jurisdiction of that nation to carry out financial transactions with the island, which not only limits their rights but also grants that blockade an extraterritorial nature and harms third nations.
The United Nations General assembly has over the years passed resolutions condemning the UN economic blockade of Cuba with Washington getting support mainly from Israel.
Source: Jamaica Observer