'A country that sends doctors to the poorest places in the world, offered assistance to Americans after Hurricane Katrina, fought cholera in Haiti and Ebola in Africa, and sent doctors to over 56 countries amid the COVID-19 pandemic, cannot be a foe. '
 The US Keeps Betting on Cuba Surrendering Out of Hunger
and Desperation By Gustavo A Maranges on September 4, 2022 Last
week, US President Joe Biden extended for one more year the sanctions on
Cuba, arguing the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917. This mechanism has
been used for the last 60 years to back the countless sanctions that make up
the US blockade against Cuba.  This time, Biden only limited himself to saying that it was a
“matter of interest to the United States.” By a stroke of the pen, he
condemned the Cuban people to continue to suffer all the economic shortages
caused by the blockade. Sanctioning and playing with the welfare of millions
of people, with their very lives, seems to be a reflex action of US political
class. For Biden, it was just one of the hundreds of documents he
signed last week. Although, for Cubans, this one is a critical signature
that has a direct impact on their health, food for their families, working
conditions, possibilities to enjoy their country, and everything they do to
see their country flourish. The blockade is, without a doubt, the main
obstacle to Cuba’s development. Many of our readers know about all the scientific and social
achievements of the island despite the sanctions. Meanwhile, Cubans only
think of how much more they could have done without a blockade. The annual
losses to the Cuban families’ economy are estimated at billions of dollars,
but this is not nearly the worst damage. Enjoying a full childhood or further
progress in gender equality or women’s empowerment is hindered by the
sanctions, something recognized by UNESCO and NGOs such as OXFAM. Today, Cuba is going through the worst economic crisis in
decades, which is the result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the deficiencies of
the national business system, and the so-mentioned US sanctions. It is not
possible to explain Cuba’s reality without understanding the effect of the
blockade, since it catalyzes every mistake or wrong internal decision while
inhibiting any loophole of development. However, it has been a long time since the blockade, based on
an archaic Act, ceased to be only economic aggression; it now includes the
psychological level. This is no coincidence since it was its main objective,
as the State Department official Lester Mallory clearly stated in a
memorandum: the blockade main’s intention is to “(…) provoke hunger,
desperation and the overthrow of the government.” The Trading with the Enemy Act was the legal basis found by
the Kennedy administration in 1962 to sustain sanctions against Cuba by
considering it a “hostile state.” Despite the Cold War scenario, it was not
true then, and it still is a lie now. A lie repeated many times becomes
truth, the saying goes, although this is the exception that proves the rule.
No matter how often they repeat it, no one can believe in such absurdity. A country that sends doctors to the poorest places in the
world, offered assistance to Americans after Hurricane Katrina, fought
cholera in Haiti and Ebola in Africa, and sent doctors to over 56 countries
amid the COVID-19 pandemic, cannot be a foe. How can Cuba be so hostile if
there are eight bilateral cooperation agreements in force since Obama’s
administration? Cuba’s response was not long in coming. President Miguel
Diaz-Canel and Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, as well as several
high-ranking Cuban diplomats, criticized Biden’s cowardly decision and
ratified Cuban’s will of not kneeling down before the extortions of any foreign
government. Cuba is socialist because we decided so in 1961 and ratified it
after every Constitution. Today, despite Cuba’s complex economic situation, those who
continue fighting for their social and political project are more than those
who abandon it. The US government thought it was impossible to survive
without its help in the sixties, then they got ready to return during the
special period. They thought everything would end after Fidel Castro left his
government position or later when he passed away. They bet on breaking us
during the COVID-19 pandemic, and today, they continue to do everything
possible to achieve the long-standing goal. All this shows the Machiavellian
character of the US policy towards Cuba and its shameful historical amnesia. Biden has maintained his predecessors’ bet, which confirms his
memory is not the best. Perhaps his case is even more reprehensible, not only
because it goes against his electoral promises, but also because his long
years in politics have allowed him to see all these failures with his own
eyes. Ratifying Cuba as a “hostile state” says more about the
current administration than about the Caribbean island itself. If someone
sees Cuba as a “hostile state”, it is because they feel threatened by its
example, by what it means to Latin Americans and many Americans who want a
fairer US. Cuba has never been hostile to Americans and they will never be.
Only those seeking to crush their neighbors’ sovereignty, stand for
imperialist policies, and this profoundly unequal world order, can see Cuba
in that way. For Democrats and Republican administrations alike, Cuba has
always been a thorn in their side. Source: Resumen Latinoamericano – US |
