ABN Amro Bank: another victim of the economic blockade against Cuba

CUBA, May 11, 2010.  The bank ABN Amro, bought by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has agreed to pay $ 500 million dollars to U.S. authorities to put an end to accusations of money laundering, the Justice Department announced .

The former Netherlander bank was being accused of “supplying transactions in dollars", to banks in countries under economic sanctions, mainly from Cuba, Iran, Libya and Sudan in the period 1995-2005, said an statement of the Justice Department.

Previously, other banks like UBS from Switzerland and Australia & New Zealand Bank have been punished by the U.S. authorities for doing business with Cuba, a clear demonstration of the extraterritorial nature of U.S. policy of blockade against the island.

The U.S. government stopped a few days ago a group of U.S. intensive care physicians from participating in a scientific conference in Cuba, denounced the vice president of the American Thoracic Society, Nicholas S. Hil

Recent statements by Daniel Restrepo, principal adviser for Latin America of Barack Obama 's administration, again confirmed that the White House has no intention of lifting the illegal and unjust blockade with the frustrated purpose of destroying the Cuban Revolution.

While the Californian Democrat Michael Honda said that after a recent trip to Cuba with a congressional delegation, "it became evident that the blockade is unwise politically, economically and socially. We met many people and all agreed on this point".

(Cubaminrex- Cubadebate-RHC)