From the Department of Hate: Citigroup Bank fined for violating Cuba embargo

Cuba’s daily newspaper Granma reported yesterday that American financial institution Citigroup was fined $16,250 for a violation of the laws of the commercial blockade imposed by Yankee imperialism on revolutionary Cuba. The news was originally reported by the mouthpiece of the Miami gusanos, El Nuevo Herald, which was quoting Notimex.

The Nazis at the Department of the Treasury’s OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control) imposed the fine on the bank for not having a license or acting outside that license in accepting payments received from a Cuban firm in 2004.

Citigroup voluntarily revealed the infraction to the authorities (Mea Culpa! Mea Culpa! Mea Culpa!) with OFAC not giving any further details of the largest fine imposed in the fiscal year 2008, which started last October.

From 2004, Führer George W. Bush hardened the commercial war against the island with special measures to limit visits and family remittances to the Caribbean nation. The sanctions of the Nazis at OFAC have reached the sum of almost four million dollars.

Among the banks with the biggest fines during recent years are the Union of Switzerland Banks (UBS) with 100 million dollars in fines in 2004 and the National Bank of Australia with $100,000 in 2007.

In addition, Kinecta Credit Union of California paid $3,102 in 2007 and Bank Atlantic of Florida paid $7,500 this past February.

JG: The Nazis at OFAC are being true followers and believers of the First Commandment of Capitalism: “Thou shall make money in any way and by any means.” The fines represent the infighting within greedy capitalist circles. Last week we saw a clear example of capitalist cannibalism, with Big Capitalist Shark JP Morgan Chase devouring little sardine Bear Stearns under the guise of a $2.00 per share buyout. Panic gripped the financial markets when Bear Stearns ran out of cash, due to their speculation with Collaterized Debt Obligations (CDO's) of sub-prime mortgages. The Federal Reserve Board bailed out Bear Sterns so that their executives at the top would not have to return millions of dollars in bonuses they received at the beginning of the year. Typical Capitalism: The rich get richer while the working class gets poorer.