Once again, the United States has been left alone in its efforts to stifle Cuba. The General Assembly of the United Nations once again pronounced itself overwhelmingly against the economic blockade that Washington insists on maintaining against the island.
The UN member countries voted this Thursday on the Cuban resolution “Necessity of putting an end to the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba”. On this occasion, the document had 185 votes in favor, two against (the United States and its unconditional ally Israel), and two abstentions (Jair Bolsonaro’s Brazil and Ukraine).
Today, the world is with Cuba, and it is no surprise. That US policy it’s an outdated and ineffective measure that hasn’t achieved and will not achieve its objective and has ended up discrediting and isolating the United States itself.
It has already been 30 years of continuous defeats. Since 1992, the Caribbean island, besieged and on the verge of economic asphyxiation, has been presenting this resolution before the UN in New York. Today, not even the US citizens themselves support this policy of hatred. Proof of this is that two nights ago, in the mythical Chrysler skyscraper in the Big Apple, a luminous sign caught the attention of the city dwellers and the world: “Down with the Blockade,” next to an image of the Cuban flag.
At the top of the building, the messages “Sanctions are a violation of human rights,” “Biden, vote for peace and justice” were also read; images that have been on the front page of major international media in the last hours, prior to the vote. New York, the American people, and the world want peace, but the White House doesn’t want to listen to these demands. It is stuck in the past and without an ounce of courage Biden has followed in the footsteps of previous administrations, Republican and Democrat alike, who adhere to the single notion of crushing Cuba and the example it projects to the world.
During its first opportunity to pronounce itself, in 2021, the administration of Joseph Biden voted against the resolution and today, it rejected once again the document, which shows, among other painful facts, that during the first 14 months of the Biden administration, the damage to the Cuban economy is estimated at $6.35 billion, equivalent to more than $15 million per day.
Cuban authorities have repeatedly denounced that the blockade has not only been in place for more than six decades but that it has intensified in recent years. Besides, the unilateral and fraudulent designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism reinforces the impact of that policy of economic asphyxiation.
Fidel’s words expressed 13 years ago came to life to me today: “The cynicism of U.S. policy hurts. It speaks of democracy while it includes Cuba on the list of terrorist countries, applies the murderous Cuban Adjustment Act exclusively to our nation, and blocks it economically.”
According to Cuban journalist Elson Concepción, being blockaded continues to be the price paid by those of us who declare ourselves free and sovereign, a condition conquered during years of struggle against Spanish colonialism, first, and U.S. neocolonialism, later.
“The blockade causes Cuban children to suffer the lack of some medicine, the implant of an organ, or the use of a reagent, for the ridiculous reason of having only 10% of U.S. components,” he added.
During his election campaign, Biden promised to change the U.S. policy path toward Cuba, but this has not happened. Meanwhile, Cuban families suffer when their children decide to emigrate in an unsafe way; they suffer from the lack of indispensable goods, such as food and medicine. They also suffer because they want their country to grow economically. After all, there’s no better place to live than where you were born and raised.
For the thirtieth time, the world said “No” to the blockade and is anxiously waiting for this to be the year of definitive changes. The U.S. would be a better place for it, a fairer one.
By Alejandra Garcia on November 3, 2022 in Havana
Source: Resumen Latinoamericano – US
