US must end its cruel blockade of Cuba

Every year since 1992, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has overwhelmingly voted to end the United States government’s cruel and illegal economic blockade of Cuba. One-hundred-and-sixty-five countries voted last year for the resolution on the “Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba”, with just six against.

This year’s vote, on October 28, takes place as escalating US economic warfare against Cuba is causing a devastating humanitarian crisis. The blockade’s impacts have been characterised as a “silent genocide”, severely restricting Cubans’ access to food, medicine, equipment and fuel, and impacting every aspect of daily life.

The Cuban government submitted its annual report to the UNGA in September, detailing last year’s impacts of the US blockade. Between March last year and February this year, the blockade inflicted more than US$8 billion worth of damages.

The economic cost of just four days of the blockade amounts to the cost of all fuel imports needed to meet Cuba’s demand.

On top of existing strangulation mechanisms, the US government imposed an energy blockade on Cuba in January, claiming that the country posed an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to US national security.

The US announced tariffs on goods from countries that, directly or indirectly, sold or provided oil to Cuba. Following the US’s January 3 attacks on Venezuela, it also blocked all Venezuelan oil shipments to the country.

The energy blockade is the reason for widespread blackouts, as well as disruptions to water supply, waste collection and transport.

The fuel shortages are severely impacting hospital operations, including treatments that require a steady energy supply, such as haemodialysis. There are harrowing reports of surgeons having to perform operations by mobile phone lights, due to the blackouts.

The US blockade has affected Cubans’ access to vital treatment and medicine. One example is Cuba’s cancer survival rates, which, while still higher than many low- and middle-income countries, have dropped from 85% to 65%.

Cuba’s infant mortality has risen from 4 out of 1000 live births in 2018 to 9.9 last year — a 148% rise.

Cuban authorities say that the current transport crisis is more acute than during the “Special Period” in the 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union, which plunged Cuba into a prolonged economic crisis. Fuel shortages have affected refrigerated transport, preventing more than 30,000 children from receiving vaccines.

In May, the US imposed a regime of secondary sanctions against governments and companies that invest in or trade with Cuba.

For example, the US Office of Foreign Assets Control has imposed fines on US companies for handling cargo shipments bound for Cuba and providing services for people living in the country.

Over the past year, 34 international banking institutions suspended or declined to conduct operations with Cuba, citing risks of secondary sanctions.

Several airlines have ceased operations in Cuba and many international hotel chains also abandoned management agreements for hotels, citing the risks posed by the secondary sanctions regime. These sanctions — along with other US measures — have contributed to the collapse in Cuba’s tourism industry.

“The application of these measures has produced a sophisticated mechanism of asphyxiation directed at the Cuban population, exceeding by far the levels of pressure historically imposed over decades,” the annual report said.

It also notes that the blockade has caused US$3.9 trillion worth of damages since it was imposed. However, it said the impacts go far beyond economic losses, causing suffering, illness and death.

The US blockade of Cuba violates not just international law, but any semblance of humanity.

The US government has made its intention of achieving “regime change” in Cuba by the end of the year very clear; it is openly considering the possibility of military attacks. This has been the US’s policy since Cubans overthrew the US-backed Fulgencio Batista military dictatorship in 1959 and set about implementing a planned economy based on meeting people’s needs.

Since then, the US has undertaken or sponsored terrorist attacks, a military invasion and an economic blockade against the Cuban people, with the explicit aim of bringing about “hunger, desperation and overthrow of government”, as revealed by a 1960 US memorandum.

The Cuban Embassy in Australia told Green Left that despite the challenges facing Cuba, it “remains committed to its social development and international cooperation”.

It noted that the Australian government voted in favour of last year’s UNGA resolution, calling for an end to the US blockade on Cuba.

The embassy encouraged the Labor government to engage in “constructive dialogue and to explore practical avenues of cooperation with Cuba in areas such as health, education, disaster resilience, renewable energy and scientific research”.

“At a time when the world faces complex economic, environmental and humanitarian challenges, greater engagement and cooperation with Cuba, rather than continued sanctions, would benefit both the Cuban people and the international community.”

Since 1963, Cuba has sent more than 600,000 health professionals overseas to provide care and train personnel, mostly in low-income regions. The US aims to destroy Cuba’s model of medical internationalism, pressuring countries to terminate often decades-long Cuban medical missions.

More than 160 countries have benefited from Cuba’s medical internationalism, including its pandemic and disaster response to free training for tens of thousands of medical personnel.

The embassy also said that it “deeply appreciates” the Australian solidarity movement with Cuba, saying it has “demonstrated a steadfast commitment to friendship and cooperation between our peoples” over many years.

“Through educational activities, public advocacy, cultural exchanges and community engagement, solidarity organisations and supporters across Australia have played a valuable role in raising awareness about the impact of the blockade and in promoting closer people-to-people ties.

“The annual vote at the United Nations is an important reminder of the overwhelming international rejection of the blockade and the need for policies that promote development, mutual respect and people-to-people exchange.”