EDITORIAL: against the blockade

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EDITORIAL: against the blockade
Fecha de publicación: 
2 April 2021
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Some spokespeople in the US government (and many others unofficial “spokespeople:” especially the clan rooted in Florida) insist that the impact of the blockade is minor and the Cuban government uses it as an excuse to justify its own mistakes and ineptitude in dealing with the Cuban economy.

They have even gone so far as to say that the blockade is the perfect excuse for Cuban leaders to blame others. Well, we must ask ourselves: if so, why is still the US blockade in force? They cannot remove it for a simple reason: they trust the usefulness of this brutal and shameless policy: “to kill” a whole people from starvation. The “logic” is pretty clear: by putting pressure on citizens with restrictions and shortage, these citizens, disgusted, will end up fighting the government and ousting leaders from power.

The golden dream of regime change

The economic, financial and commercial blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba does respond to the interests of the anti-Cuban lobby living in that country. They call it, euphemistically, “embargo.” And they say it just affects the ruling class in Cuba. But the truth is that this is a blockade that affects the Cuban people. It affects, essentially, “average” people. They are the target, as everything hints that only a massive revolt may reach the longed-for dream of ousting the Revolution.

The problem is that they have tried for decades. And they have done at the expense of whole generations of Cubans. The blockade is the cornerstone of a series of aggressions with which they have tried, unsuccessfully, a change in the social and political system of Cuba. The approach may be different, but the goal is the same, though.

As naïve as blaming the blockade of all our economic problems, we cannot ignore the negative impact of such policy in our economy either. One will have to see which modern economy would have withstood so many sanctions for so long. And this is a very pragmatic idea, indifferent to humanitarian reasons: it is not that these measures prevent the purchase of weapons or luxurious items for an alleged elite, the thing is that they prevent the purchase of medicines and staple goods.

To solve the problem, Cuba has turned to more distant markets and thus, more expensive. But the blockade is also extraterritorial and some of its dispositions also hinder the normal trade with third parties.

The stubbornness of the US ruling class is so big that they have ignored the opinion of most of its own electorate…and the claim of almost the whole of the international community. In this line, the US government has not even the support of some of its most traditional allies.

Last Sunday, thousands of people worldwide protested against the blockade. Dozens of cities in several countries witnessed caravans of solidarity. It was an initiative that was born precisely in the United States, with an increasing number of followers.

The blockade must end. It is much more than a political claim. It is a matter of common sense, a matter of decency.

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translation Staff

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