By Hedelberto López Blanch on May 25, 2026
image: Adano
An incorrigible mythomaniac like U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a press conference to mark May 20, 1902, when a neocolony controlled by Washington emerged in Cuba.
Rubio, who during his time in Congress, the Senate, and now at the State Department has pushed for more than 300 new extortions that reinforce the blockade that has lasted more than six decades, dared to repeat once again that Cuba is a failed state and even threatened military aggression to try to change the island’s system of government.
Cuba’s so-called independence, on that May 20, was born tied to the Platt Amendment (approved by the U.S. Congress on March 2, 1901), which was imposed as an appendix to the Cuban Constitution and limited the country’s sovereignty.
The Platt Amendment was an imposition, a mechanism that severely limited Cuban sovereignty. Its provisions stipulated that the Cuban government could not enter into certain treaties without U.S. consent and that U.S. military intervention was justified if the provisions of the amendment in the Cuban Constitution were not complied with.
The Platt Amendment remained in force until 1934, when it was repealed amid growing popular pressure and pressure from revolutionary forces. However, the legacy of dependence it left behind was profound, and the terms of the naval base in Guantánamo were not negotiated, leaving Cuba in a state of persistent vulnerability.
The regime of Fulgencio Batista, an ally of and controlled by the United States, continued the tradition of subordination that characterized Cuban history. It was only with the triumph of January 1, 1959, that true independence began to emerge.
What was the state of Cuba at the beginning of the Revolution?
Sugar production accounted for 80% of exports and was the basis for sustaining large-scale landholdings.
U.S. investors controlled, among many other things, 90% of the telephone system, 70% of oil refining, 100% of nickel production, and 50% of the railways. In other words, they ran practically the entire economy of the country.
In addition, U.S. pharmaceutical companies owned 70% of the domestic drug market
Only 3% of Cuban farmers owned land
The infant mortality rate stood at 65 per 1,000 births; life expectancy at birth was 62 years, and government health care coverage was 6%.
Illiteracy stood at 30%, and barely 55% of children attended school; the unemployment rate was 35%. 22% of homes were owned by their residents, and 72% of homes generally lacked sanitation services and 42% lacked electricity.
That was the reality in Cuba in 1959, which was radically transformed for the well-being of the people.
Examples abound: the current infant mortality rate is between 4% and 9% (it has risen due to the blockade); life expectancy is 78 years; primary school enrollment is 98%; more than one million people hold university degrees; 14 infectious diseases have been eliminated and another 9 have low incidence rates; the UN ranks Cuba among the countries with High Human Development, etc.
Now Washington wants to take over Cuba once again to re impose a neocolony in which big U.S. capital and that of Cuban-Americans—the latter having enriched themselves through the drug trade, corruption, money laundering, and the perks offered by U.S. administrations—run the country to enrich themselves even further at the expense of the people.
Despite all the difficulties and destabilizing actions coming from the United States—which has imposed a reinforced blockade lasting more than six decades—the Cuban people, united with the country’s leadership, know that resistance is essential to maintaining the sovereignty and independence achieved on January 1, 1959, so as not to fall back into the neocolonial clutches of the empire.
Source: Cuba en Resumen