Cuba: The hurricane called blockade

By
Frei Betto                                                                            Read Spanish Version

From
Adital

On
Oct. 29, the United Nations’ General Assembly, after listening to the
report submitted by Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, will vote on a
Cuban resolution to suspend the economic, commercial and financial
blockade imposed on the Caribbean island by the government of the
United States in 19[62].

It will be the 17th time that the
U.N. has voted on this issue. In 2007, 184 of the 192 U.N. member
countries voted in favor of the resolution that asked for a
suspension. Unfortunately, its resolutions are not binding, except
those of the Security Council.

The fact that a majority of the
countries condemned the blockade 16 times represents a gesture of
solidarity with the island and a moral defeat for the White House,
whose arrogance becomes evident, as it does not feel the slightest
consideration for the opinion of the international community, which
repudiates the USAmerican hostility.

The blockade is the main
obstacle to Cuba’s development. Last year, it represented a loss of
$3.775 billion for Cuba. In the course of [almost] 50 years, the
Revolution estimates that its losses add up to $224.6 billion, taking
into account the dollar’s devaluation and its fluctuations over
time.

The blockade is an octopus with extraterritorial
tentacles that violates international law, especially the Geneva
Convention, which describes it as genocide. Business enterprises,
banks and citizens who maintain economic, commercial or financial
relations with Cuba experience persecution. Along the lines of what
China did during the Olympic Games, the USAmerican government
blockades Internet sites related to Cuba.

At great cost, the
Cuban government has managed to pry small cracks in the blockade,
such as buying foodstuffs in the U.S. But the vendors face a gigantic
bureaucracy, particularly because the trade must go through a third
country because the blockade forbids direct relations between the
U.S. and Cuba. The buyer is obliged to pay in advance and cannot sell
its own products to the USAmericans. The ships return empty to their
ports of origin.

Recent hurricanes Gustav and Ike caused much
damage to the island. Large farms were devastated, 444,000 homes were
damaged, 67,000 of them totally destroyed. Considering the rise in
the prices of food in the international market, one reason Cuba
doesn’t have a rope around its neck is the international solidarity
it has enjoyed, including the European Union and Brazil.

The
Cuban government asked the White House for a lifting of the blockade
over the next six months, for humanitarian reasons. So far, Bush has
kept utterly silent. However, the White House propaganda machine
tries to camouflage the president’s omission with a series of lies,
such as the offer of $5 million to the Cubans who were victim of the
hurricanes. But what is that amount next to the $46 million the USAID
received this year to fund mercenary groups engaged in anti-Cuban
terrorism? And $40 million that were granted to keep up the radio and
TV broadcasts against the Cuban regime.

Although the blockade
has caused more damage than all the hurricanes that have affected
Cuba, the nation resists and now mobilizes in large work teams to
deal with the damage caused by nature and improve agricultural
production, thanks to recent measures that make it easy for farms to
gain access to land formerly used for planting sugar cane. In
addition to finding a sure buyer in the State, Cuban farmers will be
able to sell directly to the consumer.

Cuba does not sit
gazing at its navel. It reiterates its international solidarity and
sends doctors to treat the victims of the hurricanes in Haiti, and
continues to keep doctors and teachers in more than 70 countries,
most of them poor.

History is an old woman who surprises us
every day. Who would have imagined one year ago that Cuban socialism
would witness the financial crisis on Wall Street and the world’s
most capitalist State contradict all its discourses and intervene in
the market to try to save banks and businesses? What’s left of the
Immaculate-Conception dogma that outside the market there is no
salvation?

Frei
Betto is the author of ‘The Blue Fly; A Reflection on Power,’ among
other
books.
http://www.adital.com.br/site/noticia.asp?lang=ES&cod=35450