[News] If the US really cared about freedom in Cuba, it would end its punishing sanctions

[Anti-Imperialist News]

theguardian.com
<https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/04/us-freedom-cuba-punishing-sanctions-critics-blockade>
If
the US really cared about freedom in Cuba, it would end its punishing
sanctions
August 4, 2021
------------------------------

The violent protests that erupted in Cuba
<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/18/im-surprised-it-took-so-long-cubans-find-anger-in-their-souls>
in early July were the first serious social disturbances since the “Maleconazo”
of 1994, 27 years ago. Both these periods were characterised by deep
economic crises. I was living in Havana in the mid-90s and witnessed the
conditions that triggered the uprising: empty food markets, shops and
pharmacy shelves, regular electricity cuts, production and transport ground
to a halt. Such were the consequences of the collapse of the socialist
bloc, which accounted for about 90% of the island’s trade.

Betting on the collapse of Cuban socialism, the US approved the Torricelli
Act of 1992 and the Helms-Burton Act of 1996 to obstruct the island’s trade
and financial relations with the rest of the world. Meanwhile, more
sophisticated and multifaceted “regime change” programmes were developed,
from Clinton’s people-to-people programmes to Bush’s Commission for a Free
Cuba <https://www.theguardian.com/world/cuba>. From the mid-1990s to 2015,
US congress appropriated some $284 million to promote (capitalist)
democracy.

The story of how, against the odds, the Cuban revolution survived the past
three decades is the focus of my book. In some fields, like biotechnology
and medical internationalism, it thrived. Since 2019, however, conditions
reminiscent of the “special period” have been returning to Cuba, a direct
result of US sanctions. The Trump administration implemented 243 new
coercive measures against Cuba, blocking its access to international trade,
finance and investments at a time when foreign capital had been awarded a
pivotal role in the island’s development strategy. The inevitable and
intended result has been shortages of food, fuel, basic goods and medical
supplies. Thus, while Cuba has Covid-19 vaccines, they cannot buy
sufficient syringes to administer them, nor medical ventilators for their
ICU units.

Strict sanitary restrictions, imposed by Cuban authorities in response to
the pandemic, have impeded Cubans’ capacity to *“*resolver*”* (resolve
problems through alternative channels), and to socialise. Covid cases keep
rising, generating anxiety among Cubans, even though infection and death
rates remain low relative to the region. In every Cuban household, people
take turns to rise at dawn to join queues for basic goods. No one should be
surprised that there is frustration and discontent.

Cuba’s critics blame the government for the daily hardships Cubans face,
dismissing US sanctions as an excuse. This is like blaming a person for not
swimming well when they are chained to the ground. The US blockade of Cuba
is real. It is the longest and most extensive system of unilateral
sanctions applied against any country in modern history. It affects every
aspect of Cuban life.

At the UN general assembly on 23 June, a total of 184 countries supported
Cuba’s motion <https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/06/1094612> for the end of
the US blockade. It was the 29th year that Cuba’s vote had won. The US
representative, Rodney Hunter, claimed sanctions were “a legitimate way to
achieve foreign policy, national security and other national and
international objectives”. He also described them as “one set of tools in
our broader effort towards Cuba”.

Another key tool in recent years has been social media. In 2018, Trump set
up an internet taskforce to promote “the free and unregulated flow of
information” to Cuba, just as the country expanded facilities enabling
Cubans to access the internet via their phones. During this summer, the
social media campaign, which sees Miami-based influencers and YouTubers
encourage Cubans on the island to take to the streets, was ratcheted up. As
spontaneous and authentic as this may seem, behind it lies US funding and
coordination.

On 11 July, I was in Havana, watching the Euro finals at a Cuban home when
the broadcast was interrupted by an announcement from the president, Miguel
Díaz-Canel. He had been to San Antonio de los Banos, on the outskirts of
the capital, where a protest had turned into a riot, with shops looted,
police cars overturned and rocks thrown. Simultaneous protests had taken
place in dozens of locations around the island. In Matanzas, where Covid-19
cases have soared, there was extensive destruction. Díaz-Canel ended the
broadcast by calling for revolutionaries to take to the streets. Thousands
of Cubans answered his call.

Meanwhile, the mayor of Miami asked Biden to consider airstrikes on Cuba,
while there were half-baked plans for a naval flotilla
<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/13/cuba-protests-activists-journalists-protesters-detained>
from Florida. The international media depicted mass opposition to an
incompetent government, peaceful protests violently repressed, and a regime
in crisis. This narrative has counted on exaggerations and manipulations.
Images have been shared in the press and social media purporting to show
anti-government protests that have, in fact, been the opposite
<https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-cuba-protest-idUSL1N2OQ2DI>. Photos
of protests in Egypt and sports celebrations in Argentina have been
attributed to the Cuban protests of 11 July.

>From the US, where violent protests and police killings happen with tragic
regularity, and where a rightwing insurrection tried to overturn the 2020
election result, new president Joe Biden described Cuba as a “failed
state”. By 30 July he had already imposed new sanctions, despite campaign
promises <https://www.vox.com/22573703/biden-cuba-protests-trump> to roll
such sanctions back.

Since the 11 July protests, I have travelled throughout Havana for my work.
The only significant protests I have seen in the capital have been those in
support of the government, including a rally of 200,000 in Havana on 17
July. The Cubans I speak to reject the violence and US interference. They
are confident that Cubans know how to swim, but they need the chains of the
US blockade to be cut.

   -

   Helen Yaffe is a senior lecturer in economic and social history at the
   University of Glasgow

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