On Oct. 30, for the 16th year in a row, the U.N. General Assembly voted by a landslide margin in favor of a non-binding resolution calling for an end to the U.S. blockade of Cuba.
Out of 192 member nations, 184—one more then last year—condemned the 45-year-old blockade that has cost Cuba
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In a failed attempt to bribe and blackmail other countries into supporting its anti-Cuba policies, U.S. imperialism was only able to recruit Israel—a U.S. garrison state and armed henchman in the Middle East—and two Pacific islands into supporting it.
Marshall Islands and Palau are tiny island chains with fragile economies kept afloat by U.S. financial assistance, paid in exchange for unrestricted military access and control over their territories. Palau’s population is a mere 19,000.
Governments ranging from staunch allies to outright puppets of the United States have rejected the blockade.
The record-setting and overwhelmingly lopsided vote against the blockade, 184-4, with one abstention from Micronesia, comes less than one week after U.S. president George W. Bush announced that the blockade would intensify.
Economic warfare
The cumulative economic damage caused to Cubans by decades of blockade is well over $222 billion. This figure does not include $54 billion in direct damage caused by U.S.-financed terrorist activities.
An April 6, 1960 document from the U.S. State Department stated that the objective of isolating Cuba is “to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government.” Such a policy cannot be described as anything other than a blockade—one of the most intense ever imposed on any country.
The blockade officially began in 1962 in response to the nationalizations that put the wealth of Cuba in the hands of the Cuban people—much to the displeasure of the U.S. ruling class.
The U.S. imperialists sharply escalated the blockade after the overthrow of the Soviet Union, hoping to expedite the collapse of socialism in Cuba after its main trading partner disappeared.
The 1992 Torricelli Law placed restrictions on travel to Cuba and prohibited foreign subsidiaries of U.S. firms from trading with Cuba.
The 1996 Helms-Burton Act, enacted under former-President Clinton, punished non-U.S. corporations and investors that have economic relations with Cuba. It allowed Washington to penalize foreign companies trading with Cuba or anyone “trafficking” in Cuban property formerly owned by U.S. capitalists.
In May 2004, the Bush administration’s Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba made public a 458-page blueprint for the overthrow of Cuba’s socialist government. An additional report was completed in July 2006 with 93 pages released to the public. Part of the commission’s report is secret.
Bush’s most recent threats against Cuba show that military plans could be on the table. Billions of dollars have been spent by Washington on activities related to the overthrow and replacement of the Cuban government.
There are certainly sectors of the U.S. ruling class that would like to see the blockade end for their own profit. During a 2004 press conference, then-Iowa Agriculture Secretary Patty Judge (now Lt. Governor) spoke against the blockade and restrictions on travel to Cuba. “When Americans can finally come to Cuba on vacation, they might want steak, and we hope that steak is sourced from Iowa,” said Judge. (The Nevada Rancher, January 2004).
But the U.S. government represents the will of the capitalist class as a whole. Its prohibition to U.S. firms doing business with Cuba is premised on the theory that if Cuba’s socialist system was overthrown, U.S. imperialism would be far freer to exploit Cuba and Latin America in the long run.
Washington seeks to restore Cuba’s colonial status and to put all of its wealth back into the hands of U.S. corporations.
Despite the severe impact of the blockade, Cuba has continued to prioritize people’s needs, guaranteeing free education, healthcare, food and homes to the population. These fundamental social programs are made possible by Cuba’s system of socialist planning and distribution—the very system the blockade seeks to destroy.
