Cubanow.- "The repercussions of 45 years of blockade on Cuban culture have been substantial. Intensification of this policy during the last decade has had a significant impact on their development and has deprived the Cuban and American peoples of open interchange in these areas.

The difficulties faced by these sectors as a consequence of the blockade include: lack of access to the US market (goods and services) to obtain the supplies needed for artistic and educational purposes; banning of Cuban artists from entering into commercial agreements to work in the United States or be paid for their performances; non-recognition of the intellectual property rights of Cuban creative artists; restrictions on the right to travel, by means of sanctions and threats against U.S. citizens wishing to visit Cuba; denial of visas to scientists, artists, sportsmen and women, educators and other Cuban celebrities." (UN Resolution 58/7)

The economic blockade affects cultural life not only at the level of the artist and artistic creation, but also inhibits the promotion and development of the enjoyment of culture, as well as the commercial exploitation of goods and services derived from cultural activity.

A revealing example was that of the Cuban National Ballet's visit to the United States, from 1 October to 16 November, 2003. This prestigious, internationally recognized company, was obliged to perform on a non-commercial basis in more than 20 American cities, foregoing some $200,000 in fees for the events staged alone. Its agreement to perform without the smallest financial incentive can be understood solely in terms of the extraordinary universal vocation of Cuban culture. Obstructing such interchange infringes the cultural rights of US citizens also.

Inflated costs of basic study materials for the specialized courses at the Schools operated under the system of education in the Arts in all their manifestations is another example of the blockade's impact. This year, the Cuban government was compelled to make the relevant purchases, totalling some $2.4 million, in markets remote from Cuba, involving extra transportation costs of nearly $100,000 compared with those for importation of the same goods from the United States.

The inability to exhibit works from Cuban collections in museums in the United States, and vice versa, has resulted in depriving both peoples of experiencing the most representative work in the fields of painting and sculpture in each others' countries. Examples include the banning of seven Cuban works from the international exhibition organized by the Houston Museum of Fine Arts and opened in June 2004.

The relevance to the raising of national and world cultural levels of conserving the tangible and intangible heritage of Cuba has been recognized by the United Nations. Nonetheless, the blockade has prevented Cuba from obtaining restoration materials in the United States, resulting in increased costs and, consequently, extra difficulties in the tasks of recovering and restoring eligible works.

The US Treasury Department has also denied permits for implementing aid and cooperation projects proposed by American agencies for conservation of Cuba's heritage. Major Cuban cultural institutions have been prevented from accessing funding amounting to $80,000 provided by the World Monuments Fund.

The interests of the Cuban publishing industry have been seriously prejudiced. A specific example is that it loses up to 30% of royalty revenues paid by foreign publishers via the Latin American Literary Agency (ALL) due to the prohibition on transfers or payment of cheques to Cuban entities by US banks or foreign banks on American soil. The industry is consequently obliged to use the services of other correspondent banks, inflating the cost of the relevant transactions.

Since they are prohibited from distributing Cuban books in their domestic market or negotiating royalties, American publishing houses will not establish relations with their Cuban opposite numbers or with figures from Cuba's publishing industry.

Also, book publishing has incurred extra costs exceeding $50,000 due to the inability to arrange collections or payments via American banks. Another $65,000 dollars in additional expense results from having to source raw materials and technology and raise finance in more distant markets.

Cuba's Institute for Scientific and Technological Information (IDICT) has been unable to obtain directly the scientific, technical and similar literature of various American scientific institutions. Such material is kept up-to-date and is needed for information support on national scientific-technical programs and, in general, Cuba's primary research and development interests.

As a result of having to order these publications from European firms with branches in the United States, the related cost has spiralled, reflecting a 15% increase in the net cost of scientific literature attributable to airfreight charges. Also, IDICT has lost subscriptions to journals it received by donation from fellow institutions, following pressure on these from Washington to break off relations with IDICT.

Software license purchases and upgrading, scientific-technical literature and technology transfer all have to be sourced via third-party countries given the restrictions on their direct entry into Cuba, involving higher prices and delivery delays. Examples include the inability to purchase a license to use Macromedia Director, because the firm's terms of business include a clause specifically banning sale of the product to Cuba. Such restrictions apply to courses and all other Macromedia services as well as the software.

In order to obtain materials essential to its survival, the Cuban film industry has been obliged to use intermediaries and suppliers in other regions of the world, thus increasing the cost of the relevant imports. Cinema film, laboratory chemicals, accessories and equipment have regularly been purchased at costs far above those prevailing in the US market.

The Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Arts and Industry (ICAIC) is unable to make direct purchases of Kodak film, a situation which greatly complicates the creative process and the technological options for the production of Cuban films and their subsequent marketing by the worldwide distribution chains. The Institute is also banned from using the Dolby sound system license in its theatres, a factor that is almost essential for acceptance by any distributor in the world of a film for general distribution

On top of these various economic sanctions affecting Cuba's cultural sectors, there are other measures reflecting Washington's intention to prevent interchange between the two peoples, by means of refusal of visas and cancellation of permits.

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"In spite of being a small underdeveloped country under a stringent embargo, Cuba today has the largest number of teachers and doctors per capita of any country in the world. Cuba's child mortality rate is 7.2 per thousand live births. The life expectancy at birth is 76 years; 99.1 per cent of all children aged six to eleven, and 98.2 per cent of all children aged six to fourteen, attend school. There is no illiteracy in Cuba and we have more than 6,000 school libraries and almost 400 public libraries.

The cost of the embargo to Cubans is a bitter reality. It is so in regard to our libraries. But our countries successes in education, health, and sports are clear proof that an embargo can be overcome. They also prove that, were it so disposed, the American government could use the tax money that maintains the embargo to eradicate the illiteracy that afflicts some 32 million of its own people." (Eliades Acosta, Director of the Jose Marti National Library).

(...)

"Yet in spite of all of the aggression and all of the suffering, there is no hate, no resentment, in the hearts of Cubans against the American people, as those who visit us attest. We have attained a high level of cultural development, free education is at our disposal from pre-school through university and we demonstrate respect for the best of all cultures and all literatures, including those of North America. Thus, all Cubans, a child on the street, a taxi driver, are imbued with a profound knowledge of history. This knowledge prevents us from making mistakes of judgement and from being unfair to others. We know that governments are to blame, not the citizens who defend a noble cause: sovereignty, liberty, independence and culture" (Eliades Acosta).

(Cubanow) November , 2005