10-02-07, 9:13 am

Havana, Oct 1 (Prensa Latina) The richest country in the world, the United States, behaves like a thief by robbing Cuban banks of money illegally frozen, which it is supposed to conserve and protect.

The National Bank of Cuba had $47 million in November 2006, but at the beginning of this year Cuban authorities discovered the balance was zero because the money was used to pay for a US judicial decision against the Island.

Cuba denounced this and other situations in its recent report on the consequences of the blockade that the UN General Assembly will discuss and vote on October 30.

The report says that Cuban funds illegally frozen in US banks in 1959 under the 'Cuban Assets Control Regulations' of July 8, 1963, have been stolen as part of the blockade policy, paying two individuals $72 million from frozen assets of Cuban institutions.

The US has also obliged foreign banks to deny credit cards and close Cuban accounts and SWIFT codes.

By US law, Cuba cannot use US dollars in its transactions that must therefore undergo a highly risky double foreign exchange which losses from May 2006 to April 2007 totaled $28.9 million.

Cuba's report to the US Secretary General assesses damages inflicted by the US over the 47-year socio-economic blockade at over $89 billion.

The 2006 report 'On the need to End the US Economic, Commercial and Financial Blockade of Cuba,' won support from 183 countries.

From Prensa Latina