Courageous Cubans Struggle for Survival

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

A raging economic and humanitarian crisis is enveloping the island nation of Cuba which lies a mere 90 miles south of the United States.   The people of that small country are suffering from high inflation, low tourism, a lack of foreign currency to buy imports, and a US oil embargo.  Food, gas, and other necessities aren't available, and when they are, they are not affordable.

Two good North American neighbors have stepped in to help fill the breach, though their efforts are still woefully short of meeting the needs of the Cuban people.  Two Mexican naval vessels left Veracruz on Tuesday carrying nearly 1,200 tons of food and aid.  They are expected to reach Cuba tomorrow.  And Canada has announced that it is providing an immediate cash donation of $8 million to the World Food Program and UNICEF for humanitarian food assistance to the island nation of Cuba.

The United States, for its part, is working diligently to make matters worse for the Cubans.  The US had placed an energy embargo of the island, and our country is threatening to raise tariffs on countries that break the US embargo.

The US animosity toward Cuba is rooted in the people's revolution of the 1950's which overthrew the authoritarian government of Fulgencio Batista on January 1, 1959.  Many comfortable and wealthy Cubans who fled the island ahead of Castro's victory settled in the United States, particularly south Florida, where they harbored dreams of one day returning to their homes, regaining the properties that they abandoned. and once again being part of the island's ruling class.  Today those original refugees who are still living almost seventy years later, and their descendants, form a hardcore Republican voting block that has an outsized influence on American politics.  That group, which includes US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, is putting pressure on the Trump administration to increase the power of the embargo and squeeze the life out of Cuba.

The Trump administration is open about wanting to topple the socialist government of Cuba, presumably to bring back the casinos and crime that made Havana a playground for rich, hedonistic Americans in the years preceding the Revolution, and in much the same style and grandeur as its plans for glitzy seacoast resorts in Gaza.  Neither plan takes into account the real life struggles of the working classes, the people whose toil and sweat would be commandeered to make those gilded spectacles possible.

Cuba and Gaza both need the basics of survival - things like housing, food, fuel, energy, and health care - not casinos and resorts.

As I mentioned a couple of days ago in this space, the Cubans that I have known personally, and they number in the dozens, are kind, caring and helpful.  How sad that our own country can't promote those Christian values.

Stand strong, Cuba, you are not alone.

Viva Cuba libre!