By Alejandra Garcia on September 22, 2024 from Havana
photo: Bill Hackwell, Our freedom and dignity will never be bought.
In September, and for the fourth consecutive year, U.S. President Joe Biden renewed U.S. sanctions on Cuba under the Trading with the Enemy Act (TWEA), an archaic 1917 law designed to cut off trade with Germany during World War I and a significant pillar of the blockade. The announcement means that the economic blockade, a policy upheld by both Republican and Democratic administrations for over six decades, will remain imposed on the island through 2025, despite Cuba’s urgent calls for it to end. Let’s not forget that it was Biden, the democrat who while campaigning for president, said he would improve relations with us.
The Caribbean Island is the only country in the world still subject to sanctions under the century-old law, which was originally intended to be used only in times of war. It is also the main obstacle preventing Cuba’s economic growth, as it is forced to face the same world crises, such as pandemics, inflation, and shortages, but under conditions to which most countries worldwide are not subject.
“Washington imposes another year of blockade against Cuba,” Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez reported when the White House released the news. The damages are in the billions and will continue to accumulate. From March 1, 2023, to February 29, 2024, alone, the blockade caused economic losses to Cuba estimated in the order of 5 billion 56.8 million dollars, which represents an increase of 189.8 million dollars compared to the previous report.
“The current challenges of the Cuban reality would have a better and easier solution if Cuba could have at its disposal the substantial resources that the blockade deprives it of. This policy is illegal and inhumane and severely affects key sectors such as social, public services, energy, and tourism, as well as the state-run industry and the private sector,” Rodriguez added.
In November, the Biden administration will reach its end without any profound changes in bilateral relations. Let’s recall that, during his 2020 electoral campaign, the Democratic candidate gave signs that his policy towards Cuba would return to the path of the so-called “constructive engagement” developed by the Obama administration, of which Biden was vice president. He assured he would lift the relentless policy of hostility followed by his predecessor, Donald Trump (2017-2021), who imposed over 200 coercive measures against the island during his mandate.
However, his discourse changed once Biden was installed in the White House.
“Our policy towards Cuba is being studied and is guided by two principles. First is support for democracy and human rights, which is the center of our efforts. The second is the Americans, especially the Cuban Americans, the best ambassadors of freedom in Cuba, so we are going to review the policies of the Trump administration,” said the then press secretary, Jen Psaki.
With few weeks ahead before the U.S. Presidential elections, with vice-president Kamala Harris and Republican and former president Donald Trump as candidates, Cuba is no priority for either of them since Cuba represents no threat to U.S. politics and security. They haven’t even mentioned what policy they will pursue toward the Caribbean island other than keeping a blockade that is strangling the Cuban people intact.
At this moment, they have many other hot topics to debate about, like who is the bigger supporter of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Palestine, the upheaval of tensions in the Middle East, or the rise of gun violence in the country. They could care less whether the island remains one more year under the yoke of the blockade 60 years later. Let’s be honest, humane policies of mutually beneficial relations are never on the minds of our imperial neighbor to the North.
Meanwhile, Cuba keeps struggling, being a victim of an archaic, outdated, and harmful policy, under which most of the Cuban population has been forced to live, which causes shortages, prejudice against Cubans, separation, and pain. However, they will never watch us tumble. “Despite the serious damage caused by the hostile policies of the U.S. governments on the Cuban people, they continue to fail in their objective of destroying the Revolution,” Rodriguez reaffirmed.
Source: Resumen Latinoamericano – US