Under Pandemic, United Nations Votes to Condemn Cruel and Illegal U.S.
Blockade of CubaBut There Is A Twist - CovertAction Magazine
[Source: mintpressnews.com]
184 Countries Vote in the United Nations to Condemn U.S. Blockade of
CubaBut As Usual, Only Two Countries Vote Against the Resolution: the U.S.
and Israel
While Conditions in Cuba Under the Blockade are WorseningPotentially Worse
than the Special PeriodCubas Biotechnological and Pharmaceutical Industry
May Help Them Out of the Pandemic
On June 23rd, 184 countries at the United Nations voted yet again to condemn
the U.S. blockade of Cuba, with 3 countries abstaining and 4 not voting.
Every year since 19922020 being an exception when the vote was not held
given COVID restrictionsCuba has introduced a resolution to end the
blockade. And every year, only two countries vote against it: the U.S. and
Israel, with Bolsonaros Brazil joining them in 2019. Notwithstanding the
ongoing nightmare Cubans continue to suffer under the blockade, the focus on
health care and their advanced biotechnological and pharmaceutical industry
may help them out of the pandemic.
A picture containing text, crowd
Description automatically generated
Photo taken during the last United Nations General Assembly vote on the
necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed
by the United States against Cuba. (November 7, 2019) [Source: un.org]
For over 60 years, the U.S. blockade of Cuba has not stopped the
island-nation from pursuing its goals of living independently from
neocolonial and neoliberal control, using its own national resources for the
benefit of the Cuban people and instituting social programs like free
universal health care and education.
A group of women smiling
Description automatically generated with low confidence
Cuban Students. [Source: borgenmagazine.com]
Yet the blockade continues to stifle the Cuban economy and harm the Cuban
people. But further, the policy quashes all the productive potential normal
relations with Cuba would foster, even for Americans.
According to some sources, conditions in Cuba are now worse than in the
so-called Special Period in the 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union.
Food shortages were so dire then that malnutrition led to an epidemic
disease of blindness afflicting tens of thousands.
With Cuba now facing the worst phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, lifting the
blockadenot to mention easening it with the stroke of a penwould clearly
be the most rational and humanitarian act.
The dire situation in Cuba is in great part the result of U.S. policy:
isolate nations like Cuba who rid themselves of U.S.-backed dictators and
foreign control of their assets. This serves not only to punish those who go
their own way and reject neoliberal policies but also serves to showcase
struggling, blockaded economies while misleading the public on the causes.
The policy is aggressively pursued for fear that successful examples will
inspire others to rid themselves of the shackles of the U.S. empire and
plutocratic interests.
While Obamas policy of engagement, among other remedies, renewed diplomatic
relations and eased restrictions on travel and remittances to the island,
Trump reversed that trend and issued unprecedented aggressive policies
against Cuba culminating in its inclusion on the unilateral State Sponsors
of Terrorism list.
On the campaign trail last September, Biden slammed Trumps policies,
calling them an abject failure, and promised that he would, if elected,
reverse the failed Trump policies that inflicted harm on Cubans and their
families. Indeed, Cuba is no mystery to the Bidens. Bidens wife, Jill, now
First Lady, actually traveled to Cuba on an educational and cultural trip in
2016.
Will Biden Keep His Promise?
It is no surprise to seasoned CAM readers that Bidens position seems to
have evaporated under the pressures of U.S. electoral politics, particularly
from the Cuban-American lobby that has kept Cuba locked in isolation for
decades. While Biden has rescinded dozens of Trumps policies, on Cuba he
has remained silent. Of the 240-plus measures adopted by Trump to toughen
the blockade against Cuba, Biden has not rescinded even one.
Indeed, Bidens finite political capital and razor-thin margin in the Senate
leaves him wary of upsetting even one Democrat, including anti-Castro hawks
like Cuban-American Bob Menendez (D-NJ), not to mention Republican hawks
like Cuban-American Marco Rubio (R-FL).
Mounting Pressures
Pressures to get Biden to fulfill his promise are mounting in the U.S. and
include Cuban-Americans. Organizations like Bridges of Love and other
solidarity groups have staged rallies, protests and caravans nationwide in
hopes of pushing the Biden administration to soften its strategy.
Dozens of nonprofit groups, from Oxfam to the DC Metro Coalition, have asked
the U.S. to
act as soon as possible to normalize relations with Cuba
and
lift the blockade on humanitarian grounds. Various leading think tanks,
including the Council for Democracy in the Americas (CDA), the Washington
Office on Latin America (WOLA) and the Cuba Study Group (CSG) have asked the
new administration to restore Obamas policy of rapprochement and critical
engagement. The National Network on Cuba has produced a Hands Off Cuba Map!
that can be clicked on to see the particular organizations around the U.S.
working to end the blockade.
Graphical user interface, map
Description automatically generated
To see the organizations, click the Hands Off Cuba Map! [Source: nnoc.info]
A picture containing outdoor, road, bicycle, person
Description automatically generated
Cubans ride in Havana, Cuba, on the Malecón seafront during a
bicycle-motorcade protest against the U.S. trade embargo (April 18, 2021).
Fifty cities in Cuba, the United States, Canada and other countries have
joined in demanding the end of Washingtons economic blockade as part of the
Bridges of Love initiative in solidarity with Cuba. [Source:
newsinamerica.com]
To defend the ongoing illegal and cruel blockade, Bidens Secretary of State
Antony Blinken ratcheted up the rhetoric at the 51st Conference of the
Council of the Americas stating that Washington
will defend the human
rights of the Cuban people
to which the Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs
Bruno Rodríguez responded: If Secretary Blinken was interested in the human
rights of the Cuban people, he would lift the embargo and the 243 measures
adopted by the previous government
A person in a suit and tie
Description automatically generated with low confidence
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the 51st Conference of the Council
of the Americas (May 4, 2021). [Source: c-span.org]
Cuban Permanent Representative to the United Nations Pedro Luis Pedroso
Cuesta added: All those measures remain in force today, and are a
reflection of the unprecedented levels that the economic war against Cuba
has reached, bringing about hardships of all kinds and material shortages in
the daily lives of every Cuban.
A person standing in front of a microphone
Description automatically generated with low confidence
Cuban Permanent Representative to the United Nations Pedro Luis Pedroso
Cuesta. [Source: pensandoamerica.com]
Pedroso continued: Our challenges in terms of human rights, like those of
any other country, are known to our people and our government and we will
continue to work on their solution on the basis of our Constitution, he
said. But Cuba is equally concerned about the human rights situation in the
United States. Flagrant violations are committed here [in the U.S.] on a
daily basis, which arouse concern within the international community.
Pedroso issued an additional statement on Tuesday, June 22, before the vote:
The entire world knows that the US blockade against Cuba is a genocidal and
criminal policy, which really harms the Cuban people especially amid the
Covid-19 pandemic
It is
an act of genocide under the 1948 Convention for the Prevention and
Punishment of Crime of Genocide, due to its declared purpose and the
political, legal and administrative framework it is based on.
Rodriguezs and Pedrosos statements are especially compelling given the
pandemic. Maintaining a blockade on Cuba at this timemuch less on any
countryis particularly anti-humanitarian, especially when Cuba is currently
facing the worst phase of the COVID-19 outbreak since the start of the
pandemic.
How is Cuba supposed to battle the pandemic? Venezuela, for example, tried
to acquire vaccines by actually paying for them; shockingly the remittances
were rejected given the economic blockade on Venezuela.
Cubas Health Care, Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Industry
The Cubans, however, are in a unique situation. Since the 1959 revolution,
Cuba has focused on health care, among other social programs. They send more
doctors around the world than the World Health Organization and have
implemented programs like Doctor de la Familia which house doctors in
communities around the island-nation in two-floor homes.
Typically, the doctor de la familia lives with his/her family on the second
floor, and the practice resides on the ground floor. In addition to
receiving patients at the local clinic, doctors and healthcare workers visit
community neighbors in their homes and provide an overall more holistic
service.
A group of men standing in front of a building
Description automatically generated with low confidence
[Source: mediciancubana.blogspot.com]
The Cuban government has made the obvious choice not to rely on foreign
vaccines. In spite of the blockade, they are advancing their own vaccine
development, testing, and delivery with their own advanced pharmaceutical
industry which has exported vaccines for decades.
page1image1122712144
[Source: bio.org]
A picture containing text, clipart
Description automatically generated
[Source: finlay.edu.cu]
On Monday, BioCubaFarma announced that its three-shot Abdala vaccine had
proved 92.28% effective against the coronavirus in last-stage clinical
trials. Soberana 2, announced days earlier, has proven to be 62% effective
with just two of its three doses. Both vaccines are expected to be granted
emergency approval.
A picture containing bottle, indoor, toothbrush, close
Description automatically generated
[Source: twitter.com]
Cuba will likely be in a position to vaccinate its own population and
further burnish its own scientific reputation by exporting vaccines against
coronavirus. This will provide much-needed currency not to mention assist in
the world-wide vaccination effort. Numerous countries, from Argentina and
Jamaica to Mexico, Vietnam and Venezuela, are interested in buying Cubas
vaccines. Iran started producing Soberana 2 earlier this year.
What You Can Do To Help
Get involved in the solidarity campaigns with Cuba listed above. There are
many. One organization I worked with in the 1990s was Global Health Partners
(GHP): They are particularly efficient and have been sending medicines and
medical supplies to Cuba since the 1990s.
The Cuban government is planning to produce 100 million vaccines for its
population and to share with developing countries around the world. As GHP
notes: Over the past year alone, Cuba has sent 3,700 health workers, in 52
international medical brigades, to 39 countries overwhelmed by the pandemic.
Cubas international medical brigades have treated patients and saved lives
for the past 15 years in 53 countries confronting natural disasters and
serious epidemics, such as the Ebola crisis in West Africa.
In spite of Cuban advances in health care, biotechnology and
pharmaceuticals, the blockade is a daily nightmare for most of the 11.3
million people on the largest Caribbean island-nation. While the pandemic is
a deadly layer added to the suffering, the promise of change comes at a
crucial moment for Cubans. Will Biden fulfill his promise to relax the
blockade and join the rest of the world, or will he carry on with the old
Cold War rhetoric against Cuba that has only harmed the Cuban people and
exacerbated the anti-humanitarian U.S. image worldwide?
A picture containing calendar
Description automatically generated
The Ironic Curtain, still relevant and still deadly. [Source:
gregasclutoo.com]
U.S. diplomat Rodney Hunter rhetorically told the U.N. General Assembly
before the vote that sanctions were one set of tools in Washingtons
broader effort toward Cuba to advance democracy, promote respect for human
rights and help the Cuban people exercise fundamental freedoms. It seems,
given this latest U.S. vote at the United Nations, that the Biden
Administration is not yet interested in fulfilling its promise to tear down
the cruel wall.