On June 28, 1960, the Cuban revolutionary government headed by Fidel Castro issued Resolution No. 188, which gave legal character to the process of nationalization of properties of foreign companies in our national territory, and that same day the intervention of the Texaco refinery plant in Santiago de Cuba took place.
The Cuban revolutionary government was already aware of the maneuvers of U.S. imperialism aimed at strangling the rising revolution. The Texaco intervention was the direct response of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro to the “declaration of economic war” which implied the approval of the sugar bill presented to President Dwight David Eisenhower by the Agriculture Committee of the House of Representatives of the U.S. Congress on June 28, 1960.
This sugar legislation, conceived by the then Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, Lester Mallory, is considered to be the origin of the US policy of economic and financial blockade against Cuba.
The nationalization of the Texaco Oil Company left without effect the discretionary powers that this sugar law granted the U.S. government to fix the Cuban sugar quota during 1960 and the beginning of 1961.
The Cuban government then continued the nationalization of Texaco of Havana, the ESSO and Shell facilities. The United States then responded by enacting the Dagger Law, which reduced Cuba’s sugar quota for the U.S. market, its main export destination, to a minimum. On July 5, 1960, Cuba responded with the Ley Escudo (Shield Law), which empowered the President and Prime Minister of the Republic to nationalize foreign companies and goods.
To this day, the Cuban people suffer the consequences of the genocidal economic blockade that originated in those turbulent days. However, Cuba continues on the path of sovereignty and independence, imposing itself in the face of every adversity.
