EDITORIAL: The Blockade, a Policy of Hate

For six decades now, the economic, commercial, and financial blockade that successive US administrations have imposed on the people of Cuba has been in force. The US government calls it euphemistically “embargo;” and argues that this is a coercive measure against a government that oppresses citizens. However, (and this is sufficiently documented), those citizens are precisely the most affected with these measures. The US blockade (and so is believed by most of the international community) is a serious violation of the rights of Cubans, and to make matters worse, it has extraterritorial effects.

Beyond the concrete effects in Cuba's trade relations and financial practices, beyond the million-dollar damages to the national economy, the blockade has triggered a true hate industry, which is promoted and supported by conservative and frankly reactionary sectors of the US politics, and (with particular enthusiasm) part of the Cuban emigration within the US and other countries of the world.

The blockade, which has been and is the main weapon of those who, for the sake of a supposed fight against a "dictatorship," live and profit at the expense of the sacrifice of an entire people, found its ultimate expression during the current COVID-19 pandemic, which, in a vile and cowardly way, was used by the United States government, which staged a fourth generation war destined to overthrow the Cuban Revolution.

The blockade, contrary to what some of its spokesmen affirm, affects every aspect of our national life: health, education, scientific work, academic exchanges, sports, culture...because its goal is to destroy the social project that the Revolution has consolidated, which is no other than suffocating a country by depriving it of development alternatives while isolating it from the concert of nations.

 The blockade is real and is the main obstacle to advancing in the search for the prosperity and well-being of the Cuban population. #EliminaElBloqueo #60DeResistencia pic.twitter.com/m1ke8dw7xK

– Cuba Vs Blockade (@cubavsblocko) February 2, 2022

Therefore, this mechanism of hatred cannot be limited to economic measures. It hinders any link with Cuba, any pretense of normal dialogue between this country and the world.

Pressuring and frightening potential individuals and organizations that want to establish relations with the Cuban civil society is another constant. Some give in to blackmail, out of interest or fear. Others withstand. The truth is that Cuba is not alone as never has been.

The advocates of the blockade (the instigators of hate) rejoice when an artist of relative importance decides to withdraw from a performance in Cuba, or when other creators (and some who actually think they are) aim to boycott, for example, the Havana Biennial. They make a fuss when a relevant academic or scientist visits Cuba or defends the exchange policy, even if he or she has no political vocation.

But the truth is that culture is still made in Cuba. In Cuba, science is done. Development projects are materialized here.

The advocates of the blockade should not be content with the success of Cuban vaccines, the undeniable fact that a good part of the population has received the full vaccination schedule. It is one more example that they do not coexist with a failed state. It is one more example of the resilience capacity and creativity of a people.

The Cuban people will never forget the genocide role played by the US blockade against their desire for sovereignty and independence, which will go down in history as the greatest political defeat suffered by Yankee imperialism in the last sixty years.

The hatred generated by the blockade will never be able to subdue an entire people. Cuba lives and will live forever.

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translation Staff