The US Blockade against Cuba, a cynical and brutal policy

The US Blockade against Cuba, a cynical and brutal policy
Fecha de publicación: 
24 June 2021
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Some spokespeople of the US government (and some of the usual unofficial “spokespeople”: especially the clan rooted in Florida) insist that the impact of the US blockade is mild and the Cuban government uses it to justify its own mistakes and inefficiencies in the management of the domestic economy.

They have even said that the Cuban leaders use it at their convenience to blame others. If so, why don´t they eliminate it? They have not eliminated the blockade for a simple reason: they trust the usefulness of that brutal and cynical policy: “to starve” the people of Cuba to death. The “reasoning” is clear: by putting pressure on citizens with restrictions and shortage, the people —frustrated— will end up confronting the government and removing those leaders from power.

The golden dream of a regime change.

The economic, financial, and commercial blockade imposed by the US government on Cuba benefits the anti-Cuban lobby rooted in that country. They call it, euphemistically, “embargo.” And they say it only affects the ruling class in Cuba. But the truth is that it is a blockade against an entire nation affecting especially those “average individuals.” And they are the real target as everything hints that only a popular uprising could achieve the long-awaited collapse of the Cuban Revolution.

The thing is that they have been trying so for decades. And they have been doing it at the expenses of the people’s suffering. The blockade is the cornerstone of a series of aggressions with which they have tried, but to no avail, a change in the social and political system in Cuba. There may be some shift in the approach, but the goal has ever been the same.

Just as innocent as to blame the US blockade of all the problems in our economy is also to ignore the impact of that policy to our domestic economy. It remains to be seen what contemporary economy might have endured so many sanctions in force for such an extended period of time. And it is pragmatic, foreign to humanitarian purposes: it is not that it forbids the purchase of weapons and luxury goods for a certain elite in power, the truth is that it forbids the purchase of medicines and staple goods amid a pandemic.

To alleviate the problem, Cuba has resorted to more distant markets and therefore, more expensive. But the blockade is also extraterritorial and many of its provisions hinder the normal trade with third parties as well.

The stubbornness of the ruling class in the United States is so big that they have ignored the voices of the majority of voters…and the claims of most of the international community. In this regard, the US government cannot even count on the support of some of its traditional allies.

For several months now, thousands of people worldwide are demonstrating against the US blockade. Dozen cities in several countries have witnessed solidarity caravans. It was an initiative that blossomed in the US, by the way, which is gaining more and more followers.

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

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translation Staff

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