End the U.S. blockade of Cuba

By Cheryl LaBash

Oct 27, 2010

The U.N. General Assembly on Oct. 26 voted 187 to 2 against the 48-year economic blockade of Cuba. Only the U.S. and Israel voted for it. Palau, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands abstained.

This international repudiation, the strongest yet, is the 19th consecutive resolution condemning the U.S.’s criminal and cruel strangulation policy. Yearly U.N. votes on the blockade began in 1992 with a 59 to 3 vote, with 71 abstentions. Last year’s vote was 187 to 3.

In 1960, the U.S. State Department recommended that since, “the majority of Cubans support Castro ... [and] there is no effective political opposition ... the only foreseeable means of alienating internal support is through disenchantment and disaffection based on economic dissatisfaction and hardship. ...

“[E]very possible means should be undertaken promptly to weaken the economic life of Cuba. ... [S]uch a policy ... would call forth a line of action which, while as adroit and inconspicuous as possible, makes the greatest inroads in denying money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government.” (University of Wisconsin Digital Collection; Foreign Relations of U.S., p. 885)

The Cuban Ministry of Foreign Relations’ report for the 2010 U.N. debate details the hardship and cost of the U.S.’s attempted strangulation of Cuba’s economy and its people, and the widespread opposition to the blockade inside the U.S.

The report outlines the blockade’s effect on Cuba when the U.S. retaliates against other countries if they do business with Cuba. It says that Cuba was notified that as of March 31, 2012, it won’t be able to use the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications system, which is universally used for international payments, because U.S. software will update that system. Cuba has been a member of SWIFT since 1990.

SWIFT was founded in 1973 by international banks to act as an “electronic gatekeeper for funds crossing borders.” SWIFT is run by the National Bank of Belgium and supervised by the U.S. Federal Reserve and many other imperialist banks. (Wall Street Journal, Feb. 11)

In 2007 the SWIFT system was challenged for violating financial privacy when it shared data with the U.S. government under the guise of the “war on terrorism.” Such a U.S.-sponsored “data sharing” plan is facing stiff opposition in the European Union’s parliament because of the economic privacy rights issue.

The EU parliament was expected to balk on normalizing relations with Cuba. However, pressure from Spain, Italy and France reportedly moved the EU to open talks, although much show was given to exiled Cuban “dissidents,” even awarding one an EU prize.

The proposed EU talks — “the soft-cop strategy” — and the U.S. blockade are both aimed at overturning Cuba’s sovereignty, independence from the U.S., and socialist system. However, the Cuban people’s willingness to contribute and sacrifice for every Cuban’s right to free, quality education and health care and to develop their fullest potential, cannot be so easily defeated. History shows that.