USA blockade.- By: Santiago Romero
In 1961 U.S. President John F. Kennedy announces in a nationally televised broadcast the commercial blockade against the Cuban people. He also mentioned the creation of the Peace Corps.
Therefore, Cuba denounces the validity of “the economic, commercial and financial blockade formally imposed by the US on February 3, 1962. On that date, then President John F. Kennedy decreed an «embargo» upon all trade between the United States and Cuba, in compliance with section 620(a) of the Foreign Assistance Act. This gave official character to the aggressive and unilateral economic actions that had been applied against Cuba since the revolutionary triumph”.
From then on, the policy of siege and economic asphyxiation was consolidated as the central axis of the strategy aimed at restricting the legitimate right of Cubans to defend their sovereignty and forge an emancipatory project, against imperialist domination.
Cuba reiterates today that the main justification used by the U.S. at the time to apply this measure “was the relations Cuba held with socialist countries, which supposedly went against ‘the principles of the inter-American system’ and against U.S. and hemispheric security. Over time, the pretexts have varied, but the purposes remain the same.”
And the fact is that the most exact definition of the real objectives of the policy toward Cuba had already been enunciated in the memorandum of the Deputy Assistant Secretary, Lester D. Mallory, of April 6, 1960: “the only foreseeable means of alienating internal support is through disenchantment and disaffection based on economic dissatisfaction and hardship» (…)»denying money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government.”
We live the cruel policy against Cubans of this country; we are victims of the most complex, prolonged and inhumane act of economic warfare committed against any nation. “Its effects have limited the possibilities of economic development, as it is designed to prevent trade relations with third countries, hinder banking-financial operations to the maximum, curb foreign investment and cut off all sources of income.”
As the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterates, “This is an essentially extraterritorial policy, in violation of International Law, which seeks, through pressure, blackmail and penalties, to isolate Cuba and punish those who establish any economic, commercial and financial link with the country. It is the practical expression of the Monroe Doctrine in the 21st century, which regards Latin America and the Caribbean from the position of a landlord, whether it is his “backyard or front yard”.
The blockade has never had the slightest hint of legitimacy or moral justification.
What would happen if the U.S. blockade did not exist?
“It constitutes a massive, flagrant and systematic violation of the human rights of all Cubans. It qualifies as an act of genocide under the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.”
