Liberation news                December 22, 2024

   The Cuban revolution that overthrew the U.S.-backed Batista dictatorship in 1959 ushered in a working-class, revolutionary government in Cuba. In this new socialist society, the people took economic and political power from U.S. imperialism and the wealthy oppressors. Since then, the Cuban state has ensured the provision of everyday necessities, including housing for all, free healthcare, and free education to the Cuban people.

   However, the road to liberation has been hard-fought for the island nation, facing fierce opposition from the United States for over 65 years.

   In January 1961, following the victory of the Cuban revolution, the United States responded by closing their embassy on Cuban soil. Cuba did the same. This effectively severed formal relations and communication between the two countries, though the U.S. was still represented in some capacity by the Swiss Embassy in Cuba. On September 1, 1977 the U.S. Interests Section (USINT) took the place of an embassy. The Cuban Interests Section in Washington DC also replaced the role of the former Cuban embassy.

   The main operations of USINT, according to the United States, included providing consular and visa services to provide a normal array of political and economic reporting, and to provide administrative/security support. During its existence, approximately 100,000 immigrant and refugee visas were issued between 1977 and 1994.

   Though the U.S. government obfuscated their true intentions behind programs, it was clear the ultimate goal was to attack Cuba economically. The visa program, for example, contributed significantly to “brain drain,” where well-educated and highly-trained Cuban professionals emigrated for higher-paying jobs in other countries. Coupled with the effects of the blockade, this created situations where the Cuban economy began to depend heavily on remittances to stimulate economic growth.

   On May 29, 2015, President Obama’s Secretary of State John Kerry removed Cuba from the State Sponsor of Terrorism List, a unilaterally-imposed sanction enacted by the George W. Bush administration. This brought hope to both the Cuban and U.S. people that the relationships between both countries would improve, and that the entire blockade might begin to be lifted.

   Under the SSOT designation, the U.S. uses this illegal extraterritorial power to force every bank, country, and company from doing business with Cuba. This means that virtually every bank in the world must deny financial transaction with Cuba or face million-dollar fines. Countries and companies must cease trade with Cuba or face massive sanctions. This makes it almost impossible to import food, medicines and other goods, or to export goods for foreign income.

   With the SSOT designation lifted in 2015 and travel restrictions lessened on U.S. citizens, Cuba saw a major increase in tourism that contributed to a moderate 1.6% increase to their economic growth in 2017.

   Unfortunately, the blockade remained in place and was soon strengthened by the incoming Trump Administration.

   Under Donald Trump‘s first term as U.S. president, the progress made in U.S.-Cuba relations was reversed. Trump increased the brutality of the blockade with over 243 unilateral, illegal measures, including banning remittances from Cuban Americans to their families in Cuba, and blocking oil shipments from Venezuela to Cuba. International relations were also stifled in response to the recall of U.S. diplomats from the embassy in Cuba under various pretexts, including the false accusation known as the “Havana Syndrome.”

   The double blow of the long-standing blockade and the SSOT designation have created the harshest economic conditions since the beginning of the Revolution, including the time of the Special Period, when the collapse of the Soviet Union resulted in major shortages, particularly in fuel and food.

   Today, the blockade causes fuel shortages that have a domino effect on Cuban society. Because of fuel shortages, there has been a rise in mosquito-borne diseases that are traditionally dealt with by using pest control trucks to manage the insect population. The recent electrical grid collapse was caused by a fuel shortage that stressed the aging electrical grid, which cannot be updated due to sanctions on the necessary components. There has also been a shortage of daily necessities like food and water. Cubans, despite these challenges, are working hard to overcome devastating hurricanes, fires, and earthquakes.

   Preceding the recent October United Nations Vote to end the U.S. embargo on Cuba, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez addressed the UN, highlighting the devastating effect that the blockade has had on the Cuban people:

   “The Cuban economy has experienced unprecedented difficulties in recent years, with a critical impact on the well-being of the population. Our people suffer this on a daily basis. Our government works tirelessly to find solutions to such an adverse challenge. It is an unavoidable and extremely difficult obligation.

   “What is unique, what is extraordinary about Cuba, is the deliberate efforts of the United States to suffocate the national economy, to sabotage and to put significant obstacles to prevent our growth and development. No country, even those with much more robust economies than Cuba, could face such a brutal, asymmetrical and extended aggression over time, without a considerable cost to the standard of living of its population.

 “With the economic blockade against Cuba, imperialism warns the entire world that any nation that dares to firmly defend its sovereignty and build its own future will pay a price for its rebellion. No one can doubt the capacity that the United States has today to strike with devastating force the economy of any nation. In the case of Cuba, it has been doing so for 64 years.

   “The blockade against Cuba is an economic, financial and commercial war and qualifies as a crime of genocide. It is a flagrant, massive and systematic violation of the human rights of our people. It is the most comprehensive, comprehensive and prolonged system of unilateral coercive measures that has been applied throughout history against any country.”

   It is clear that the world stands with Cuba against the criminal U.S. blockade; the motion to end the U.S. Blockade on Cuba passed for the 32nd time in a row, 187-2. Only the United States and Israel voted against this motion.    The continued economic warfare being carried out against Cuba by the United States is a one-sided attack on the island nation’s right to self-determination. The Cuban people continue fighting for a future free from imperialist rule and capitalism, and they are not alone!