Originally published in the March 2016 issue of Liberation Newspaper.
Since the surprising opening of diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba in December 2014, the “economic embargo” of Cuba has been widely discussed in the U.S. media. But rarely is the true impact and cruelty of the blockade admitted.
The so-called embargo is really a blockade. The U.S. government does not just prohibit U.S. companies and individuals from trading with Cuba—it is applied internationally to sanction any entity in the world from engaging in commerce, finance or other economic transactions.
The blockade began formally in 1962 and has been repeatedly tightened. Two U.S. laws—the Torricelli Act of 1992 and the Helms-Burton Act of 1996—hit Cuba hardest at its most vulnerable moment, as blatant efforts to overthrow the Cuban government during a time of great hardship after the overthrow of the Soviet bloc eliminated 85 percent of Cuba’s trade overnight.
The Torricelli Act provides that any ship that docks in Cuba, an island nation 90 miles away from the United States, is forbidden from coming to U.S. shores for six months, or it faces confiscation.
Cuba is cut off from holding international accounts or engaging in trade with U.S. dollars and accessing credit from major international financial institutions. Banks that conduct business with Cuba are harassed, fined, and at risk of having their assets seized. Added to the economic, financial and commercial blockade are various U.S. laws meant to further try to destabilize Cuba, such as the Cuban Adjustment Act.
Cuba’s extensive report to the UN in 2015 estimated the accumulated losses to Cuba over five decades to be $120 billion. Under Cuba’s socialist system, those funds would have been directly used to improve the living standards of the population. Instead, the blockade has prevented the import of medical supplies, food, spare parts, building materials, telecommunications technology and other essential goods into Cuba.
What makes the blockade such an amazing act of cruelty is that it explicitly targets the people. For over 50 years, the United States has tried to choke off the Cuban economy to compel the people there to rise up against the government. They outrageously called this “bringing democracy.” Instead, the Cuban government and people held on and defended their revolution.
Despite the scarcity imposed on Cuba, the island nation continues to provide housing, food, health care and education as rights to all—an incredible accomplishment.
Cuba likewise retains great international prestige because of its uncompromising record of solidarity. It sent volunteers to fight and defend Angolan independence from the invading apartheid South African military. It sends doctors around the world to underdeveloped and disaster-stricken areas. It has been a beacon and guiding influence for the progressive tide that has swept through Latin America over the past two decades.
The United Nations has voted almost unanimously in recent years to condemn the blockade as a violation of international law. Last year, the United States and Israel—serial violators of human rights and democracy—were the only countries to vote against the resolution condemning the blockade, with 191 countries in favor of Cuba.
The blockade has been ineffective in returning Cuba to the status of a U.S. semi-colony. Despite its ineffectiveness to imperialism, many powerful interests in the U.S. ruling class refuse to back away from this brutal act of economic war. Others are recognizing the failure of U.S. policy and looking for new ways to implement regime change.
The blockade is a deliberate act of cruelty intended to undermine the revolution—which the Cuban people have defended time after time. If the U.S. government wants equitable relations, it needs to stop trying to sabotage the Cuban economy and end the blockade of Cuba now!
