The Helms-Burton Act and its impact on the EU
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Abstract
The Helms-Burton Act, officially known as the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act (LIBERTAD), allows the USA to prosecute foreign companies that do business with Cuba. Thus, the national law, i.e. a law that should apply within the specific territory of the legislator who issued it, extra territorialized. On its base, the US actually imposes sanctions even on third parties that have nothing to do with US conflict with Cuba. This article briefly analyses and evaluates this law in the context of the European Union (EU) response on it. It describes and analysis the mechanism of so-called blocking statue, which is intended to prevent EU companies from being harmed by this law, giving specific examples of its use. It comes to the conclusion that the EU de facto agrees on and accepts violations of international legal practice and tried just protect itself and its trade policy. Based on the premise that if we want to build a free world based on free will, peace and tolerance, where the highest value is freedom and everyone in this world system has the right to freely choose which direction to go, then any foreign interference in the internal development of society is immoral and unacceptable. The Helms-Burton Act is not an exception, being an immoral act that has no place in modern international relations and international law.
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References
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