Cuban Dissidents Urge Suspension of Customs Duties

HAVANA TIMES — The Alianza Democratica Cubana (ALDECU) has urged Cuban authorities to suspend the collection of customs taxes on individuals to facilitate the receiving of indispensable goods to relive the suffering left in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

The group considers this the “opportune moment for the Cuban government to order measures to facilitate the entry into the country of food, medicine and building supplies. This should include the suspension of the collection of duties on individuals so they can bring these types of articles in,” pointed out the group’s statement.

ALDECU is also requesting Cuban authorities “accept all the assistance that is being offered by international organizations and foreign countries unconditionally, without exceptions or limitations.”

For decades the island’s government has rejected help from groups and governments that have attacked it politically, economically and militarily, such as the Cuban-American community residing in the United States and the government of that country.