Fidel Castro ... a life very well lived.Gracias, Thank-you. We carry it on ...

Fidel Castro ... a life very well lived.
Gracias, Thank-you.
We carry it on ...

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[Rights Action re-posts this article]

Thank-you Cuba: Is the United States starting to come in from the cold?
By Grahame Russell, December 21, 2014

After 55 years of all kinds of illegal interventionist efforts – including violent, deadly ones – to overthrow the government of Cuba, assassinate Fidel Castro and other leaders, and put an end to Cuba’s self-determined political processes, the U.S. government announced it is starting to change course, opening diplomatic relations with Cuba, starting to ease some of the illegally-imposed U.S. economic restrictions and sanctions.

Though one should not thank a wrong-doer for starting to stop doing the wrong thing (like thanking someone for no longer punching you in the face), I am thankful the U.S. government is taking these small steps. Even then, these initial measures do not negate the multiple harmful impacts that illegal U.S. actions (covert and overt) have had since the Cuban Revolution in 1959.

On December 18, 2014, a National Public Radio program opened with the statement that Cuba was finally ‘coming in from the cold’. Not surprisingly, the National PR radio got it backwards. It is the U.S. that is taking some initial steps to ‘come in from the cold’, ie, from its decades of ‘cold war’ policies (violent and non-violent) of “containing communism”.

Publicly, the U.S. government claims to be concerned about democracy, human rights, freedom and liberty at home and around the planet; that they oppose authoritarianism, including that thing called “communism”.

In fact, the U.S. government, representing wealthy, powerful elites, has never really been concerned about that thing called “communism”. Globally, and most particularly in the western hemisphere, the U.S. has been uniquely concerned about political and military domination and the expansion of U.S. economic interests as represented by the ‘Washington Consensus’ of global neo-liberal policies.

All Respect And Thanks To Cuba
So, thanks to the revolutionaries that fought and overthrew the U.S. and western-backed Batista regime in 1959, and initiated the political, economic and social transformations that continue today.

Thanks to the Cuban people, leaders and government who stood their ground for 55 years, and worked and struggled not to be crushed by the weight of illegal U.S. actions, overt and covert, aimed at bringing the Cuban economy and political rulers back under the control and dictates of the “Washington Consensus”.

Unequivocally thanking the government and people of Cuba is not the same thing as agreeing with every policy decision they have made or are implementing; it is not ignoring that they have made mistakes, and will make more; it is not ignoring that they have violated human rights (and will hopefully not violate rights again).

Rather, it is to point out that in this profoundly unjust, unequal global order, it is no small thing to stand up to the illegal and violent interventionist actions of the most powerful nation on the earth, one whose main allies – European nations, Canada, Australia – stood by and effectively did nothing, for 55 years, to pressure the U.S. to end its illegal aggressions towards Cuba.

No Rest For The Weary
While it appears a turning point has been reached in how the U.S. government will deal with Cuba, no one should pretend this represents a fundamental shift in how the U.S. will continue to try and impose its will and ways on Cuba and across Latin America.

One need look no further than the extensive economic and military relations that the U.S. maintain with the undemocratic, violent and exploitative regimes in power in Haiti, Guatemala and Honduras; one need look no further than U.S. interventionist policies and actions towards Venezuela, to be reminded of the self-centered economic and military interests that dominate U.S. global policies.

Another World Is Necessary And Possible
Today is a day to remember what are the underlying economic and military interests that have defined U.S. actions across Latin America for over 100 years, and celebrate the fact that almost six decades of illegal U.S. aggression could not destroy Cuba’s dignity and self-determination.

Today is a day to salute the Cuban people and government for their work and struggle to determine themselves what are their needs and interests and to implement policies to best respond to those needs, for the present and future generations.

With Cuba’s example, it is a little easier today to continue with good work and struggle in Honduras and Guatemala for ‘another world is necessary and possible’.