Why we must keep speaking out for Cuba

As the United Nations General Assembly again debates the decades-long United States embargo on Cuba, the world is reminded that this action has long outlived any moral or strategic justification.

For the 33rd consecutive year, the international community has voted overwhelmingly in favour of lifting the embargo. Yet, year after year, Washington persists in defending a blockade that inflicts untold hardship on ordinary Cubans.

Cuba’s Ambassador to Barbados, Yanet Stable Cárdenas, recently recounted the severe pressures this policy inflicts on her people. The embargo, she said, is suffocatingly real. It restricts Cuba’s access to technology, fuel, spare parts and even medical supplies.

The recent collapse of Cuba’s old electrical grid has shown how vulnerable the island has become, as the economic sectors face constant disruptions. Because of US sanctions, Cuba cannot freely buy the materials and components needed to restore power generation. Even when suppliers are found, restrictions force the country to pay inflated costs and manoeuvre through a maze of hurdles, including restrictions on using US dollars in the transactions.

The measures have been rightfully condemned as “excessive and disproportionate” by any reasonable standard. More than 60 years after it was imposed, the embargo is no longer a tool of a form of collective punishment. It is the Cuban people, not the government, who bear the brunt of the impact. Families find it extremely difficult to find food, personal care items, medicine, and fuel on a consistent basis. Hospitals also struggle to secure critical equipment despite the innovation of Cubans.

Yet somehow Cuba endures and remains an outstanding example of resilience. The United States has justified its position based on charges of human rights violations and a lack of democracy, but those arguments ring hollow when weighed against the humanitarian pain being inflicted. In fact, some find it ironic the continued argument on the grounds of human rights given the current posture of American internal politics.

The embargo’s purpose was to pressure political change in Havana. Some argue it has failed. What it has succeeded in doing is isolating Washington from the overwhelming consensus of the rest of the world.

In 2016, there was a glimmer of hope when then-President Barack Obama restored diplomatic relations with Cuba and abstained from the annual United Nations vote. That progress was short-lived as the administration that followed reversed the decision and reimposed the embargo and even added Cuba to the list of state sponsors of terrorism. This is a claim without credible evidence.

As far as the rest of the world is concerned, Cuba poses no threat to the United States.

The Caribbean Community has stood firmly with Cuba as the bloc has recognised that Cuba’s wellbeing is intertwined with its own.

For decades, Cuba has contributed generously to the region’s development, particularly through medical programmes that have brought doctors, nurses, and educators to several countries.

The Americans’ effort to frame this medical assistance as “human trafficking” has been proven inaccurate in many cases and sullies Caribbean nations that have benefited from such solidarity.

Expectation of any meaningful change in the US position under the current White House appears near impossible. Washington remains locked in its posture towards Cuba, even as the world calls for compassion and engagement.

At the same time, Cuba must use any opportunities to undertake change. The communist government may want to be more pragmatic about its approach after decades of sustained economic and social pressures facing ordinary citizens.

It is not enough for Cubans to endure the hardships; its people must be able to prosper. Reforms to empower small businesses would not weaken the Cuban Revolution’s ideals.

It is also time for Washington to stop listening to the ghosts of times past. If it can live with and trade, engage in various levels of cooperation with proven foes such as China and Russia, it can engage with its neighbour Cuba.
The Caribbean and Latin America have repeatedly called for an end to the embargo and an open door for trade, investment, and cooperation that could benefit both Cubans and Americans.

To lift the embargo would not be an act of weakness. But it would significantly ease the unnecessary suffering for more than ten million Cubans.