Cuba Holds the Planet's Greatest Reserve of Anti-Imperialist Dignity

Now that North American imperialism has set aside the diplomacy of the carrot to wield the big stick against our lands in the Americas, the recent statements by the current president and his Secretary of State regarding the blockade against Cuba have severely undermined, including the fallacious arguments of their own administration, all those who for years have denied the existence of the inhumane siege against the Island.

During the press conference held last Saturday regarding the precise attack on Venezuela and the kidnapping of President Maduro, Secretary of State Marco Rubio could not have been clearer when he affirmed that Washington will maintain the blockade on Venezuelan oil—a measure with a direct impact on Cuba—and added that the United States will block shipments of fuel from Venezuela to the island, a source considered essential for the functioning of its economy.

Shortly afterward, in response to questions from a group of journalists on Air Force One about Cuba’s fate, President Trump asserted that Cuba’s days were numbered and that his government could focus next on the communist island.

“It looks like Cuba is about to fall,” Trump told journalists on Air Force One. “I don’t know if they’re going to resist, but Cuba has no income now. All their income came from Venezuela, from Venezuelan oil.”

When pressed on the prospect of the United States intervening militarily in Cuba, Trump said he did not believe it necessary because “it seems to be sinking.”

Three weeks ago, an article published in The New York Times about Marco Rubio’s traumatic obsession with Cuba pointed out:

“And while ousting Maduro appears to be an immediate goal of American policy, doing so could help fulfill another decades-long dream of Rubio’s: dealing a critical blow to Cuba.”

“His theory of change involves cutting off all support to Cuba,” said Juan González, who was President Joe Biden’s top White House adviser for Western Hemisphere affairs. “Under this approach, once Venezuela falls, Cuba will follow.”

“Rubio has hinted at the idea in public, such as when he told NPR in early 2019 that a weakened Cuba would be a welcome ‘consequence’ of a change in Venezuela’s government, even if it was not ‘the central reason’ for ousting Maduro. ‘Anything that’s bad for a communist dictatorship is something I support,’ he said.”

Now that the empire has decided to remove its mask, the situation could not be clearer. Both Trump’s statements and those of his Secretary of State are a brazen acknowledgment of the criminal blockade that the United States has imposed on the Cuban people for more than six decades.

One might ask: If Cuba, as Trump claims, “has no income,” no natural resources, nothing, why does it so obsess Yankee imperialism?

The answer is simple. Cuba possesses, with its 67 years of resistance against the giant of the seven leagues, and as recently demonstrated by the 32 martyrs who offered their lives to defend Maduro, the greatest reserve of anti-imperialist dignity on the planet. And although dignity cannot be sold or quoted on the stock market, it has served, and will continue to serve, as an example for all the free peoples of the world.

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translation Staff