SHOOTING down unarmed, civilian planes in international waters is wrong, no matter what the provocation. Cuba's defiant attitude in the wake of this ham-fisted action has won it few friends in the international community. However, the response of the United States Congress has been wholly disproportionate. Congressmen have indulged their worst jingoistic instincts to pass a bill further tightening sanctions and allowing foreign companies and investors who deal with property in Cuba confiscated by the Castro regime to be sued in American courts. In some cases they may be barred from doing business in or indeed entering the US. It also bars American firms from financing foreign companies doing business in Cuba.

The near-certainty that President Bill Clinton will sign the Cuban Liberty and Solidarity Act into law next week shows this cannot be dismissed as just another piece of Congressional grandstanding. In an election year in which Florida's one million Cuban exiles could swing the vote either way, no Democratic President will want to appear softer on Cuba than the Republicans.

This has nothing to do with liberty or solidarity with the people of Cuba or its American diaspora. It is about further damaging its development and slowing its gradual evolution into a more market-orientated economy. This act of electioneering vengefulness is bound to stiffen Cuban resolve. It is also a slap in the face for America's main allies and trading partners on both sides of the Atlantic, a serious breach of international practice and a sign that Washington has learned nothing from its previous experience with granting its domestic courts extra-territorial powers. A decade ago, European countries were furious when Washington tried to prevent foreign subsidiaries of US companies investing in a Soviet gas pipeline.