The United States Should be a Good Neighbor

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

I mentioned in this space a few days ago that I took part in an educational tour to Cuba in 2016, arriving just days after the Obama's left,  It was the experience of a lifetime and one I will never forget, and, if given the opportunity, I would jump at the chance to go back for another visit.  I made friends on that tour, which was sponsored by The Nation magazine, not only among the other travelers who were on the same tour, but also among the many ordinary Cubans with whom I interacted during those several days of learning and exploration.

There were plenty of problematic issues endemic to the island to be sure, but it was not the police state that I had been conditioned over decades to expect.  I got out in the evenings and walked the streets of Havana without fear of the locals or the police, and, in fact, I don't think I saw over a half-dozen uniformed police the entire time i was there.  I did see a few uniformed soldiers also, but not many.  For the most part the people were open, friendly, and as curious about me as I was about them.

The food and drinks were good,  and reasonably priced, and there were hundreds of vintage US automobiles from the 1950's cruising the streets and offering taxi services, so it was easy to get around. 

The most significant problem that I encountered was WiFi reception.   Our group stayed at The Capri hotel, one of the two or three nicest in Havana, and even there WiFi was sketchy to non-existent.  One of the "friends" I made on the island was a young man who worked at the hotel who tried in vain one evening for an hour or so to get me connected to the internet.  I did hear that there was a park in Havana where it was possible to snag free WiFi and most of the young people went there.  The guy who was helping me shared that Cubanos were very resourceful because they had to be.

But that was then, and this is now.  

Today there are severe shortages of food and energy on the island, and the United States is responsible for much of the suffering that is occurring there.  The United States has had a a trade embargo on the island nation since 1960, and it has become the longest-lasting trade embargo in effect anyplace on the globe.  For many years US citizens traveling to Cuba had to fly out of Canada or Mexico, but things loosened up considerably under President Obama, and he, his wife, mother-in-law, and two daughters spent several days there int the spring of 2016. When Trump came into office the following year, he quickly bent to the will of the Cuban immigrant community in south Florida and shut down as much travel to the island as he could.  Most of the Cuban immigrants and their descendants are strong Republicans - with dreams of one day returning to Cuba and taking back the family property that they or their families abandoned during the revolution.

The current economic situation and supply shortages are due to the continuing American embargo, the US takeover of Venezuela which severed Cuba's major source of fuel, triple-digit inflation, and shortages of food and medicine.    The Cubans are in a dire situation and in need of humanitarian aid, something which will not be addressed by the US government of Donald Trump or our Cuban-American Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.

Cuba is no longer a pariah on the world stage and a few countries are beginning to step into the economic breach with assistance and supplies, chief among them is Mexico.  Last week, our neighbor to the south had its navy deliver 814 tons of relief aid to Cuba, clearly not enough to stem the hunger and suffering of the people, but certainly a start toward that goal.  Mexico also sent assistance and aid to California to deal with its wildfires, and they sent support to Texas during that state's disastrous floods of a couple of years ago.

In 2005, following hurricane Katrina, Cuba offered to send a brigade of 1,586 doctors and 36 tons of medical supplies to the US Gulf Coast to assist with relief efforts, but the Bush administration rejected the offer - again due to concern over offending Cuban Republican voters in Florida.

Mexico is a good neighbor.    Cuba has been a good neighbor to much of the Americas.  The United States of America should also be a good neighbor.