- The Guardian
- Issue #2059 03-07-2023
Cuba has been been a permanently sanctioned country by the USA and its vassals since 1959. Photo of the “Bridges of love” action in Perth on Sunday 31st October 2021, at the Matagarup Bridge over the Swan River. Organised by Australia Cuba Friendship Society, and supported by Communist Party of Australia, and trade unionists. Photo: CPA
The Communist Party of Australia condemns in the strongest possible terms the inclusion of Cuba in the US list of countries that sponsor terrorism. The CPA stands against the 60 year long criminal US blockade on Cuba.
Almost sixty-one years ago, President John F Kennedy introduced Proclamation 3447, Embargo on All Trade with Cuba. The proclamation was designed to isolate Cuba and stop the spread of so-called Sino-Soviet Communism. The goal of the Kennedy administration was clear: “To bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government.”
Today, Joe Biden lives up to Kennedy’s legacy. Despite his statement that Trump’s changes, “have inflicted harm on the Cuban people and done nothing to advance democracy and human rights” and his pre-election promises to return at least to the Obama platform, he has refused to undo the extraordinary sanctions and has kept Cuba on the list of “state sponsors of terrorism.” This brings great hardship to the Cuban people when trying to trade in a global system dominated by US imperialism.
With the stroke of a pen, Biden could lift all the coercive measures of Trump’s economic warfare. That stroke of the pen would save Cuban lives, but Biden does nothing.
Biden claims the blockade supports the Cuban people in their quest to determine their own future and these measures target the regime not the people. At the same time, he uses the hardship created by the US to create desperation from the people who are faced with shortages. He does this in the hope they will turn their backs on the Cuban government.
The evidence is clear; UN estimates are that the blockade has cost Cuba over $130 billion in damages. These costs are compounded by penalties imposed by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Cuba’s allies and investors; banks, insurance firms, energy companies, and travel agencies are targeted to the tune of around $2.4 billion, annually. The effect of the blockade is local and global.
Despite its attempts to starve Cuba the US government fails; the revolution has such massive support inside and around the world that no amount of military or economic power will prevail.
We call on the US administration to end the blockade on Cuba, to stop penalising third countries who wish to trade with Cuba, to remove Cuba from the list of countries that sponsor terrorism, and to let the Cuban people themselves determine their own future.
The CPA also calls on the Australian government to ensure the coercive measures imposed on Cuba by the United States do not affect the Australian people or the trade between the two countries.
The Communist Party of Australia sends a message of solidarity with the Cuban people in their struggle against this cruel blockade. You are not alone!
International Department
Communist Party of Australia
22nd June 2023
