On July 20, 2015 the Cuban flag, with its
single star was risen proudly over the newly
reestablished Cuban Embassy in Washington, DC. Hundreds gathered outside the
building to watch and participate in the ceremonial event which represented an important victory for the Cuban people and their
revolution after 54 years of broken relations
between the U.S. and Cuba. According to
the Guardian online, “Chants of ‘Viva Cuba
socialista’ and ‘Cuba libre’ fill the streets outside the Cuban embassy as Cuban foreign
minister calls for end to embargo and Guantánamo prison.” The mood was clear, while
celebrating, Cuba and its supporters know
that the reestablishment of diplomatic relations is only a first step, the U.S. has a long
way to go after over 50 years of
hostility and sabotage against
Cuba.
Over 50 years of US hostility
towards Cuba
Indeed, for more than 50 years
the US government has basically been at war against the
revolutionary government of
Cuba, which came to power in
1959 when the Cuban people
kicked out the US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista. Some
have called U.S. policy towards
Cuba during this time a “cold
war” policy. However, with over 3400 Cubans killed due to U.S.-sponsored sabotage
and the U.S. government’s criminal policy of
economic blockade against Cuba – referring
to U.S.-Cuba relations since 1959 as a “cold
war” seems like a fabrication of history.
The list of US attacks on Cuba is long: the
bombing of La Coubre ship by the CIA in
1960 which killed 101 people; the Bay of
Pigs invasion of 1961; the violence of Operation Mongoose in 1961 & 1962; the bombing of a Cubana airliner which killed all 73
people on-board in 1976; biological attacks
carried out in Cuba by Cuban exile groups
living with impunity in Miami; over 600
attempts to kill the leader of Cuba’s revolution Fidel Castro; hundreds of millions of
U.S. dollars invested in “freedom funds” and
“democracy building” projects to overthrow
Cuba’s revolutionary socialist government.
These attacks are paired with the most vicious ongoing campaign by the U.S. against
Cuba, the U.S. blockade. The July 2014
report by Cuba on resolution 68/8 of the
United Nations General Assembly, “Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and
financial blockade imposed by the United
States of America against Cuba” published
by the Ministry of Foreign Relations of
Cuba (MINREX) explains the viciousness
of this aspect of the U.S. government’s policy
toward Cuba. “Cuba and the United States
are not at war. Cuba has never launched any
military aggression against the United States
nor has it promoted acts of terrorism against
the American people. It is unsustainable to
justify the measures being taken under this
ordinance. As stated before, the blockade
qualifies as an act of genocide by virtue of
the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 1948
and as an act of economic warfare according to the declaration regarding the laws of
naval war adopted by the Naval Conference
of London of 1909. The blockade inflicts
important adverse effects on the material,
psychological and spiritual well-being of
the Cuban people and it imposes serious
obstacles on its economic, cultural and social development.” This detailed report outlines the impact of the US blockade on the
right to health, education and food in Cuba,
as well as impeding many developments in
sports and culture. The blockade also impacts
foreign trade and investment not only from
the US, but also from other countries due to
the extraterritorial reach of these US laws.
Cuba also reminds the US and UN General Assembly (UNGA) that this policy of
blockade against Cuba has been internationally condemned at the UNGA for the last 22
years in a row. In fact in October 2014, for
the 23rd time, the UNGA
voted to condemn the US
blockade on Cuba with 188
countries voting against the
blockade and only two in favour (the US and Israel).
So what has been the goal of
all of this hostility? Is it just a
“cold war mentality” as many
have suggested? A problem
of capitalism versus communism? If that is so, why
does the US have longstanding diplomatic relations with
China and Vietnam? The
reality is that the US is afraid of the Cuban
revolutionary example. The US government
sees Latin America as its backyard and in
many ways its own personal playground. For
more than a century the US government and
many US corporations have been supporting
dictators and oligarchs across Latin America
and lining their own pockets with the profits. Having governments in Latin American
favourable to this economic exploitation has
been an essential part of US foreign policy
in the region.
The Cuban revolution in 1959 threw US
corporations out of Cuba and returned the
land to the people. Cuba nationalized all industries and invested the money in universal healthcare, education, development and
jobs. Cubans became healthier, they became
literate, they had access to clean water and
electricity and the gap between rich and
poor was decisively minimized – all thanks
to Cuba’s socialist revolution. The US government was and is afraid that these socialist
and communist ideas and methods would
spread throughout Latin America. This is
why since the triumph of the revolution 56
years ago, the US government has attempted
to sabotage the growth of the revolution
both within and outside of Cuba.
1961 to today: What has changed?
In January 1961, the US government pulled
its diplomatic staff out of Havana and soon
after imposed a travel ban on Americans
wishing to travel to Cuba. At that time, it
was two years that Cuba’s revolutionary government had been in power, and two years
of US government covert attacks and sabotage against the revolution. However, the US
never completely left Cuba, they maintained
their military presence in Guantanamo Bay,
which has been occupied by a US naval base
since 1903. It is also important to mention
that in 1977 the US established an “Interests
Section” in Havana hosted by the Swiss Embassy (Cuba also had an Interests Section in
Washington,
DC).
Nevertheless
after 54 years
without formal US-Cuba
diplomatic relations, the US
and Cuba have
opened Embassies in each
other’s countries. However,
Cuba is still
communist,
and is maintaining its independence
and defending
its revolutionary socialist example. The US
is still capitalist and imperialist and is still
afraid and shaken by the Cuban example. So
the big question is, what has changed?
The White House website explains the reestablishment of US-Cuba relations from the
US government’s perspective, explaining on
their “Cuba policy” webpage: “Decades of
US isolation of Cuba have failed to accomplish our objective of empowering Cubans
to build an open and democratic country. At
times, longstanding US policy towards Cuba
has isolated the United States from regional
and international partners, constrained our
ability to influence outcomes throughout
the Western Hemisphere, and impaired the
use of the full range of tools available to the
United States to promote positive change in
Cuba. Though this policy has been rooted in
the best of intentions, it has had little effect
– today, as in 1961, Cuba is governed by the
Castros and the Communist party.” So here
we see that the
US government
admits its policy
for over 50 years
has been to isolate
Cuba and that at
times, this policy
has actually resulted in isolating
the United States!
While I do not
agree with most
of the Obama administration’s policy towards Cuba,
I can agree that
this is the crux
of why the US
is today so willing to reestablish
diplomatic ties
with revolutionary
Cuba.
Cuba’s recognition worldwide
While the US government pushed for so
many years to isolate Cuba, the failure of
their policy is clear. Cuba, a small country
of 11.5 million people, has diplomatic or
consular relations with 187 Countries and
States.
Cuba is a leader and founding members
of two very important Latin American
organizations:
First, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples
of Our America (ALBA) founded in December 2004 by Cuba and Venezuela. This
organization for regional integration based
on a vision of social justice, was built as an
alternative to the unjust policies promoted
by the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA). Today ALBA has 11 member
countries.
Second, was the 2010 establishment of the
Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) which is a regional
bloc made up of 33 Latin American and Caribbean member countries. In contrast to the
OAS (Organization of American States),
the US and Canada have not been invited
to join, which has been an important step
for the independence of the people of Latin
America.
Cuba also has deep bonds and joint work
with CARICOM (Caribbean Community Secretariat), the NAM (Non-Aligned
Movement) and many UN (United Nations)
agencies such as UNICEF and UNESCO.
It is important to explain that Cuba has
not only fought against US imposed isolation with these international treaties and
organizations, but also through hands-on
people-to-people work. In June 2012 the
Toronto Star published an article titled
“Cuba-trained doctors making difference
around the world” by columnist Catherine
Porter. She writes, “Since 2006, Cuban doctors have restored vision to 2.2 million Latin
Americans through simple eye surgeries.
Today, the tiny country of Cuba, population 11 million, sends more doctors to assist
in developing countries than the entire G8
combined, according to Robert Huish, an
international development professor at Dalhousie University who has studied ELAM
[the Latin American School of Medicine]
for eight years. There are 68,600 Cuban doctors now and more than 20 per cent of them
— or 15,407 — are on missions in 66 countries. They have saved 4 million lives over
the past five decades, they say. ‘We are the
army of doctors in the world,’ says Dr. Jorge
Juan Delgado Bustillo, the country’s deputy
director of medical co-operation, standing in
front of a giant map on which almost every
country in Africa and Latin America sports
a little Cuban flag. ‘We don’t fight with guns.
We fight with our knowledge and hands to
assist people.’” This is just a small paragraph
about some of the work Cuba and Cuba’s
health professionals have accomplished around the world.
We could also talk about
their leading role in fighting
Ebola in West Africa, or the
thousands of international
students that study medicine
for free each year just outside
Havana at the Latin American School of Medicine.
These examples are also just
about health. We could also
find examples about Cuba’s
literacy program and its use
throughout the world, including here in Canada as the Arrowmight program. We could
talk about Cuba’s standing
at the Olympics (at
the 2014 games Cuba
came in 11th out of 74
countries) and Pan Am
Games (at the 2015 Pan
Am Games Cuba was
4th out of 36 countries).
Furthermore, Cuba’s international recognition
for their cigars, rum, jazz,
salsa, ballet and so many
other delights.
So here one can better understand why the
White House in Washington DC says things
like, “At times, longstanding U.S. policy towards Cuba has isolated the United States
from regional and international partners.”
The people of Cuba have not surrendered
any of their rights or their principles to reestablish diplomatic ties with the US government. Instead the newly reestablished diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba
really mean the US government is admitting
the failure of their 54 year attempt to isolate and strangle the Cuban revolution and
its gains.
So today we celebrate the fact that the Cuban flag is proudly waving in Washington
DC, only a few blocks from the White
House. These new diplomatic ties vindicate
Cuba’s firm stance in the face of US slander
and accusations. The US was forced to remove Cuba from their list of “state sponsors
of terror”; to release the remaining three of
the Cuban 5 held in US jails; and to reestablish formal diplomatic ties with Cuba. This
is a big win for oppressed people around the
world.
Today & the future of US-Cuba Relations
The road ahead is very uncertain for the
United States and Cuba. While we hail the
reestablishment of diplomatic ties between
the US and Cuba as an important victory,
not only for the Cuban people but also for
oppressed people around the world, we cannot forget the new challenge that the Cuban
people are facing.
The US government has not agreed to normalize relations to help Cuba, in fact it has
normalized relations only because its previous policies were failing and the US government wanted to adopt new policies in an attempt to continue its campaign for “regime
change” in Cuba – meaning bringing an end
to the Cuban socialist project and revolution.
Really, to be honest, the reestablishment of a
US Embassy in Havana will greatly aid the
US government in its harmful meddling in
Cuba’s affairs.
On April 15, 2015 U.S. President Barack
Obama declared, “On Cuba, we are not in
the business of regime change. We are in the
business of making sure the Cuban people
have freedom and the ability to participate
and shape their own destiny and their own
lives, and supporting civil society.” However,
this statement goes against the money trail
and leaked reports about the secret (and
failed) covert operations of the US government in Cuba.
On November 9, 2014, the New York
Times Editorial Board published an article
titled, “In Cuba, Misadventures in Regime
Change.” This article explains some of the
recent history of the US government in
Cuba. “In 1996, spurred by an appetite for
revenge, American lawmakers passed a bill
spelling out a strategy to overthrow the
government in Havana and ‘assist the Cuban people in regaining their freedom.’ The
Helms-Burton Act, signed into law by US
President Bill Clinton shortly after Cuba
shot down two small subversive American
planes, has served as the foundation for the
$264 million the United States has spent in
the last 18 years trying to instigate democratic reforms on the island.”
From the article, here are some
of the “largely counterproductive” initiatives these millions
of US tax-payer dollars were
spent on in Cuba:
- a “legally questionable global
lobbying effort to persuade
foreign governments to support America’s unpopular
embargo”
- “loads of comic books [sent]
to the American diplomatic
mission in Havana, bewildering officials there”
- “a gas chain saw, computer gaming equipment and software (including Nintendo
Game Boys and Sony PlayStations), a
mountain bike, leather coats, cashmere
sweaters, crab meat and Godiva chocolates”
- “to expand Internet access in Cuba [which]
had disastrous repercussions for the Obama
administration”
- “a rudimentary text messaging system
similar to Twitter, known as ZunZuneo [...].
It was supposed to provide Cubans with a
platform to share messages with a mass audience, and ultimately be used to assemble
‘smart mobs.’”
- “sending young Latin Americans to Cuba
to identify ‘potential social change actors,’
under the pretext of organizing gatherings
like an H.I.V. prevention workshop. The
contractors [...] received quick pointers on
how to evade Cuban intelligence and were
paid as little as $5.41 an hour for work that
could have easily landed them in prison.”
This money is still working its way to Cuba
through US organizations like USAID and
the National Endowment for Democracy.
However, these wasteful and sinister programs are not the only difficulty in the road
ahead, now that the United States government will have an Embassy in Havana. The
US government also has to answer for its
continued policy of blockading Cuba and its
occupation of Guantanamo Bay.
The US Blockade on Cuba continues
The December 17, 2014 announcement by
US President Barack Obama that Cuba and
the US would be reestablishing diplomatic
relations does not mean an end to the US
blockade on Cuba. In fact, Obama himself
stated, “The embargo that’s been imposed
for decades is now codified in legislation.
As these changes unfold, I look forward to
engaging Congress in an honest and serious debate about lifting the embargo.” This
makes it sound like Congress is the only
thing standing in Obama’s way. However, if
we return to the White House website on
their “Cuba policy” page, the Obama administration doesn’t even mention congress
or Obama’s proposed “debate about lifting
the embargo.” Instead the policy website
explains that the Obama administration is
authorizing, “expanded sales and exports of
certain goods and services from the US to
Cuba.” Why only certain goods and services?
Because this expansion is not towards ending the blockade. Instead it is towards ‘empowering’, the “nascent Cuban private sector
and make it easier for Cuban citizens to have
access to certain lower-priced goods to improve their living standards and gain greater
economic independence from the state.”
The US occupation of Guantanamo Bay
Of course when Barack Obama was campaigning for his first term as US president,
he made many promises about closing the
notorious US prison in Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba. The Huffington Post explains, “The
prison, which has been operating at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base since 2002, is being
used to detain unlawful combatants from
Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries who
were captured in the wake of the Sept. 11,
2001, terrorist attacks. The U.S. has come
under international scrutiny for holding
prisoners there who haven’t been charged,
for torturing prisoners and for denying Geneva Convention protections. As of January
2015, 122 prisoners were still there -- down
from a total of 779.” Even in March 2015
Obama called the existence of the Guantanamo bay prison, “a sad chapter in America
history.” What he fails to remember is this is
a sad chapter in America’s present political
policy, which he is in charge of directing!
It should also be noted that closing the prison
at Guantanamo Bay does not mean the US
government would close their Naval military
base and leave Guantanamo for good. Getting the American naval base out of Cuba
continues to be one of the main priorities of
the Cuban people and their government.
So why are we celebrating?
If the US is continuing with its nefarious
plans to put an end to the Cuban revolution,
not planning to end the blockade against
Cuba and keeping their military base in
Guantanamo Bay, why are we celebrating
the establishment of formal diplomatic relations as a historic victory?
First, Cuba is keenly aware of the new legitimacy the reestablishment of formal diplomatic ties could give the US for its campaign
to force its version of ‘democracy’ down the
throats of the Cuban people. Cuba has done
the math and believes they have more to
gain than lose from this historic process.
As Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, Cuba’s minister of Foreign Affairs, said at the ceremony
to re-open the Cuban Embassy in the US:
“Only the lifting of the economic, commercial and financial blockade which has
caused so much harm and suffering to our
people; the return of the occupied territory
in Guantánamo and the respect for Cuba’s
sovereignty will lend some meaning to the
historic event that we are witnessing today.
[...] We reaffirm Cuba’s willingness to move
towards the normalization of relations with
the United States in a constructive spirit, but
without any prejudice whatsoever to our independence or any interference in the affairs
that fall under the exclusive sovereignty of
Cubans.” With these words Cuba is affirming that it is not bowing to the US government and that in these newly reestablished
US-Cuba diplomatic relations Cuba also has
its own goals and objectives.
Secondly, the Cuban flag and its single star
flying over the Cuban Embassy in Washington, DC is a flag that belongs to all oppressed people. This is the flag of a revolutionary people and government, who are
fighting in the heart of the empire to defend
themselves against US aggression and continued sabotage. At the same time, that flag
also represents hope – that a better world is
possible and that when we oppressed people
defend our dignity and rights, as Fidel Castro said, history will absolve us! This flag is
the flag of revolutionary internationalist
Cuba, whose internationalism is founded
in the words of the great Cuban revolutionary writer Jose Marti, “Humanity is my
Homeland.” We welcome and celebrate this
undeniable advancement for working and
oppressed people around the world against
the empire.
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