Fidel Alerts Obama over Blockade

HAVANA TIMES, April 22 – In a column published in the Cuban press former Cuban President Fidel Castro predicted “a sure failure” for U.S. President Barack Obama if he maintains the blockade against the island, as his ten predecessors did. Castro also defended Cuba’s surcharge on remittances in US dollars, which Obama asked to be eliminated in statements to the press during the 5th Summit of the Americas, reported IPS.

Castro justified the policy of the surcharge by saying: “Every country charges a certain amount for all hard currency transfers. If those are made in dollars, all the more reason we have to do it, because that is the currency of the country that blockades us. Not all Cubans have relatives abroad that could send them remittances. Redistributing a relatively small part of them to benefit those more in need of food, medicines and other goods is absolutely fair.”