Critics often dismiss Cuba as a failed state, but without accepting how badly the country is hamstrung by the US blockade, writes Helen Yaffe (University of Glasgow).
• n.b. republished courtesy of The Guardian; Creative Commons does not apply
The violent protests that erupted in Cuba in early July were the first serious social disturbances since the “Maleconazo” of 1994, 27 years ago. Both of these periods were characterised by deep economic crises. I was living in Havana in the mid-90s and witnessed the conditions that triggered the uprising: empty food markets, shops, and pharmacy shelves; regular electricity cuts; production and transport ground to a halt. Such were the consequences of the collapse of the socialist bloc, which accounted for about 90% of the island’s trade.
Betting on the collapse of Cuban socialism, the US approved the Torricelli Act of 1992 and the Helms-Burton Act of 1996 to obstruct the island’s trade and financial relations with the rest of the world. Meanwhile, more sophisticated and multifaceted “regime change” programmes were developed, from Clinton’s people-to-people programmes to Bush’s Commission for a Free Cuba. From the mid-1990s to 2015, US congress appropriated some $284 million to promote (capitalist) democracy.
The story of how, against the odds, the Cuban revolution survived the past three decades is the focus of my book. In some fields, like biotechnology and medical internationalism, it thrived. Since 2019, however, conditions reminiscent of the “special period” have been returning to Cuba, as a direct result of US sanctions. The Trump administration implemented 243 new coercive measures against Cuba, blocking its access to international trade, finance, and investments at a time when foreign capital had been awarded a pivotal role in the island’s development strategy. The inevitable and intended result has been shortages of food, fuel, basic goods, and medical supplies. Thus, while Cuba has COVID-19 vaccines, they cannot buy sufficient syringes to administer them, nor medical ventilators for their ICU units.
Strict sanitary restrictions, imposed by Cuban authorities in response to the pandemic, have impeded Cubans’ capacity to “resolver” (resolve problems through alternative channels) and to socialise. COVID cases keep rising, generating anxiety among Cubans, even though infection and death rates remain low relative to the region. In every Cuban household, people take turns to rise at dawn to join queues for basic goods. No one should be surprised that there is frustration and discontent.
Cuba’s critics blame the government for the daily hardships Cubans face, dismissing US sanctions as an excuse. This is like blaming a person for not swimming well when they are chained to the ground. The US blockade of Cuba is real. It is the longest and most extensive system of unilateral sanctions applied against any country in modern history. It affects every aspect of Cuban life.
At the UN General Assembly on 23 June, a total of 184 countries supported Cuba’s motion for an end to the US blockade. It was the 29th year that Cuba’s vote had won. The US representative, Rodney Hunter, claimed sanctions were “a legitimate way to achieve foreign policy, national securit,y and other national and international objectives”. He also described them as “one set of tools in our broader effort towards Cuba”.
Another key tool in recent years has been social media. In 2018, Trump set up an internet taskforce to promote “the free and unregulated flow of information” to Cuba, just as the country expanded facilities enabling Cubans to access the internet via their phones. During this summer, the social media campaign, which sees Miami-based influencers and YouTubers encourage Cubans on the island to take to the streets, was ratcheted up. As spontaneous and authentic as this may seem, behind it lies US funding and coordination.
On 11 July, I was in Havana, watching the Euro finals at a Cuban home when the broadcast was interrupted by an announcement from the president, Miguel Díaz-Canel. He had been to San Antonio de los Baños, on the outskirts of the capital, where a protest had turned into a riot, with shops looted, police cars overturned, and rocks thrown. Simultaneous protests had taken place in dozens of locations around the island. In Matanzas, where COVID-19 cases have soared, there was extensive destruction. Díaz-Canel ended the broadcast by calling for revolutionaries to take to the streets. Thousands of Cubans answered his call.
Meanwhile, the mayor of Miami asked Biden to consider airstrikes on Cuba, while there were half-baked plans for a naval flotilla from Florida. The international media depicted mass opposition to an incompetent government, peaceful protests violently repressed, and a regime in crisis. This narrative has counted on exaggerations and manipulations. Images have been shared in the press and social media purporting to show anti-government protests that have, in fact, been the opposite. Photos of protests in Egypt and sports celebrations in Argentina have been attributed to the Cuban protests of 11 July.
From the US, where violent protests and police killings happen with tragic regularity, and where a right-wing insurrection tried to overturn the 2020 election result, new president Joe Biden described Cuba as a “failed state”. By 30 July he had already imposed new sanctions, despite campaign promises to roll such sanctions back.
Since the 11 July protests, I have travelled throughout Havana for my work. The only significant protests I have seen in the capital have been those in support of the government, including a rally of 200,000 in Havana on 17 July. The Cubans I speak to reject the violence and US interference. They are confident that Cubans know how to swim, but they need the chains of the US blockade to be cut.
Notes:
• The views expressed here are of the authors rather than the Centre or LSE
• Republished courtesy of The Guardian; Creative Commons does not apply
• This article draws on the author’s book We Are Cuba! How a Revolutionary People Have survived in a Post-Soviet World (Yale University Press, 2020)
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The real blockade suffered by the Cuban people is that of the Cuban government against the people. The American government does not charge exorbitant prices to send packages and medicine from the USA to Cuba, the Cuban government does. The American government does not punish Cuban entrepreneurs, the Cuban government does. The American government does not collect donations sent to the Cuban people, the Cuban government does….need more?…. I’m not going to show you evidence, you know where to find it. Patria Y Vida.
So many lies and half-truths in this article.
The magnitude of the anti-government protests is well documented in videos and testimonies, ready for anyone who want to do a bit of research. Suggesting that the only actual march was the tiny pro-government (read government-organised) concentration is just unbelievable.
There is no blockade, there is a trade embargo with the US that actually excludes food, health and other humanitarian items. Cuba can trade with the rest of the world. In fact, the US is the main importer of food in Cuba. People are hungry because the Cuban economic system is unable to produce food (or pretty much anything). If you want to understand why, look e.g. at their agricultural policies and practices, including the unfair “acopio” system that disincentives production. The embargo is just an excuse that serves them well (a good reason to lift it).
Saying the Cuba still has low COVID infection rates is another lie. Yesterday Cuba had the fourth highest infection rate in the world per million of population. The health system has collapsed. My family and friends there tell me horror stories about the situation in hospitals and funeraries.
Cuba needs urgent help, including from the US. There is an economic and sanitary emergency there. What it doesn’t need is a defense of the abusive and inept regime that is the root cause of the problems there. Please stop spreading lies.
For centuries Cuba has been a net food exporter. Castro got a flourishing economy and destroyed it. Now Cuba imports much of its food. Meanwhile Cubans aren’t allowed initiative or the use of land. Yet the authorities won’t do as China or Vietnam and open the economy.
Cuba’s economy could do wonders just exporting to Europe. But there is little to export due to the state’s control of the economy.
The U.S. embargo is the excuse to cover up the incompetence of Cuba’s leadership. Even with the embargo, Cuba could become an early Hong Kong or Singapore if the authorities set Cubans free and Europeans could invest in Cuba without fear of suffocating controls and corruption.
I pray so that you see.
Thank you. Long life Cuba
This article fails to mention that the thousands of Cubans in over 50 cities on the island were protesting for ‘Libertad’ – Freedom not an end to the embargo. It in fact implies that this actually didn’t happen and that the protests were largely pro-government. The author claims that the thousands of documented videos and testimonies on social media, coming from the island are ‘exaggerations and manipulations’.
She also crucially completely avoids mentioning that this is a dictatorship where the people do not have the right to vote. That the internet was and is regularly ‘switched off’ to control the public, that reportedly over 500 Cubans that protested are still being detained without having had access to a lawyer and some with no contact with family.
Anyone who has spent time in Cuba with Cubans will have seen the repression. Cubans threatened for expressing their political view on social media, business owners told they cannot continue with their business unless they become informers, being forced to move on from sitting on a park bench simply because they do not have the right to do so. I have personally witnessed all of these.
On my last visit to Havana I walked past a beautiful new 5* hotel being built in Old Havana. The next day a crumbling balcony fell onto 3 school girls and killed them.
I am also not pro embargo, but to make this about the US sanctions is to completely dismiss what the Cuban people are asking for. Which is Freedom.
If this were the UK, we would protest. Why is it so hard to believe that the Cubans did? Actually, if this were the UK, we would vote for a different government next time.
A novel thought. Maybe if the Cuban regime really cared about a free Cuba, they would hold a democratic election.