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Related: About this forumIf the US really cared about freedom in Cuba, it would end its punishing sanctions
Helen Yaffe
Critics dismiss Cuba as a failed state, but dont accept how badly its hamstrung by the US blockade
Wed 4 Aug 2021 04.00 EDT
The violent protests that erupted in Cuba 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 islands 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 islands trade and financial relations with the rest of the world. Meanwhile, more sophisticated and multifaceted regime change programmes were developed, from Clintons people-to-people programmes to Bushs Commission for a Free 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 islands 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.
Cubas 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.
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https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016298538
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If the US really cared about freedom in Cuba, it would end its punishing sanctions (Original Post)
Judi Lynn
Aug 2021
OP
doc03
(35,331 posts)1. It hasn't worked in 60 years no reason to change
now.