Critics of the U.S. embargo against Cuba won a rare victory when an inter-governmental body asked for an end to U.S. curbs on the sale of food and medicine to the island.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States asked the Clinton administration to "faithfully observe" the traditional exemptions from embargoes that international law provides for food and medicine.The commission acted in response to a petition from the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights. The petition alleged that the U.S. restrictions were causing widespread suffering on the island.
Successive administrations have tightened the embargo against Cuba, and there is strong congressional support for a proposal by Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, to strengthen the embargo still further.
The Clinton administration bans food sales to Cuba but permits the sale of drugs under controlled conditions to ensure that exempted items do not reach Cuba.
Critics say an elaborate on-site inspection system makes attempts to export medicines impractical.
Concurring with that view, the commission statement, dated Feb. 17, said the bureaucratic requirements are "virtually unattainable."