Trump’s deranged tariff restrictions aren’t necessarily the worst to come.
This morning I’m in Cuba, and the longest embargo in the world still exists here in Cuba.
It began on October 19, 1960, and has only worsened since the Bay of Pigs invasion failed in April 17, 1961.
The full embargo began on February 7, 1962.
What the embargo has done is simply to hurt the Cuban people. Many of the staple foods that one would find available almost anywhere in the world are not available in Cuba.
Kevin J. Randle, assistant professor of legal studies at Temple University states;
“The blockade causes incalculable humanitarian damages. It is a flagrant, massive and systematic violation of human rights and qualifies as an act of genocide under Articles 2(b) and (c) of the Convention on other Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 1948. There is not a singly Cuban family that has not endured its consequences…
The U.S. Government does not have the least moral authority to criticize Cuba or any other country when it comes to human rights. We reject the reiterated manipulation of human rights with political purposes as well as the double standards that characterize it.
The United States is a country where human rights are violated in a systematic–and many a time flagrant—way…The U.S. is a party to only 30% of the human rights instruments and does not recognize the right to life, peace, development, security, food or the rights of boys and girls.
–Bruno Rodriguez Parilla, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, New York, Nov. 7th, 2019.
Kevin Fandl stated,
“U.S. economic sanctions on Cuba have been in place for nearly seven decades. The stated intent of those sanctions –to restore democracy and freedom to Cuba– is still used as a justification for maintaining harsh restrictions, despite the fact that the Castro Regime remains in power with widespread Cuban public support. Starving the Cuban people of economic opportunities under the shadow of sanctions has significantly limited entrepreneurship and economic development on the island, despite a highly educated and motivated population. The would-be political reformers and leaders on the island emigrate, thanks to generous U.S. immigration policies toward Cubans, leaving behind the Castro regime and its ardent supporters. Real change on the island will come only if the United States allows Cuba to restart its economic engine and reengage with global markets. Though not a guarantee of political reform, economic development is correlated with demand for political change, giving the economic development approach more potential than failed economic sanctions…I argue that Cuba has survived in spite of the U.S. economic embargo and that dismantling the embargo in favour of open trade policies would improve the likelihood of Cuba becoming a market-friendly communist country like China. I present the avenues available today for trade with Cuba under the shadow of the economic embargo, and I argue that real political change will require a leap of faith by the United States through removal of the embargo and support for Cuba’s economic development.
Kevin Fandl, “Trading with the Enemy: Opening the Door to U.S. Investment in Cuba,” Georgetown Journal of International Law, law.georgetown.edu, 2018.
Yet, here we remain. And with Trump, things have only gotten worse. Now, he has reestablished Cuba as a “Terrorist State.”
As a tourist, it is obvious how everyday Cubans continue to suffer deprivation, yet has the embargo had any influence of the regime?
Of course not. They fly in whatever they need on a personal basis from other nations, drive expensive foreign autos, live with the latest conveniences and in the most lavish of homes, protected by security.
So what is the embargo accomplishing?
Nothing of value. Without entrepreneurship, Cubans are destined to a life of subsistence. Assistance from America through USAID is all but drying up, making the average Cuban’s existence, noticeably worse.
Maintaining the embargo is simply America demonstrating that it has the power to hurt Cuba. “There is no justification for singling out Cuba as the one nation in the world that is off-limits.
Promoting democracy by prohibiting Americans from traveling to Cuba is hypocritical. Restricting American rights as a means of forcing another country to embrace freedom is insincere as is demanding that Cuba adopt a representative democracy, given the long history of U.S. support for brutal dictatorships in countries that favoured American interests, such as Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and Augustine Pinochet in Chile.
The U.S. even backed the Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista (who served as elected president from 1940 to 1958 before being overthrown by Fidel Castro) — someone known to have killed, tortured, and imprisoned political dissenters–because he was friendly to American interests.”
The hypocrisy of America is so evident today, that there is no way to hide it. Not with trump’s lies, his racist and anti-black, Hispanic and ‘otherwise ‘.
America has become an international pariah, and will soon stand alone as all of the true democracies, which America is no longer, have had enough. Trump’s tariffs and tearing up the CUSMA and NAFTA agreements, that he signed, as well as the breaking of the WTO, and tITO are examples of Americas unwillingness to actually be worthy of any international agreements.
On top of this, we now have trump’s unilateral imposition of tariffs, which is simply extortion. In any event, countries like Canada and the E.U., will defend their interests and as for Canadian, oil, minerals and resources, they will be traded to Japan, Korea, and the E.U.
America isn’t worthy of the term partner, ally or friend anymore.
It is simply a neighbour.
One that should be alone in the future.
Leave a Reply