Editorial: Obama and the (Cuban) Blockade: No Can Do

[unhappycamper]

Obama and the Blockade: No Can Do

Barack Obama, President of the United States, built up hopes in some sectors when he talked about a new relationship with Latin America under the umbrella of his campaign’s slogan: “Yes, we can” -- which was enough to obtain the necessary votes and get the key to the White House door.

It didn’t take such a long time to validate the popular saying that goes: those who live a dream will die of disappointment. The new administration demonstrated very quickly that the much talked about “Yes, we can” concerning a new hemispheric treatment was just a campaign promise; one of the many promises that are put away, not so far away just in case they might be necessary again, but never put into practice.

It is true that Obama never actually said he would eliminate the blockade against Cuba. He couldn’t, even if he would, otherwise he never would have reached the Oval Office, in any case. However, people expected he would be at least more decent after marking his speeches with a new continental relationship; mainly, the one concerning an aggressive and unsuccessful policy about his main target: destroying the Cuban Revolution.

Fifty years of commercial, economic and financial war against Cuba have caused much suffering and many losses, but this has not damaged at all the sovereign will that has been put into practice since January 1, 1959.

According to the report that the Cuban government will present this year to the UN General Assembly, the cost of that aggression -- a conservative calculation -- exceeds one billion 154 million dollars.