Biden refuses to lift US embargo
President Joe Biden has condemned Communism, calling it a "universally failed system" while also labelling Cuba as a "failed state". This comes amind ongoing protests in Cuba, which remains under US sanctions.
https://twitter.com/ProudSocialist/status/1416042603678781441
“Cuba is unfortunately a failed state and repressing their citizens. There are a number of things that we would consider doing to help the people of Cuba, but it would require a different circumstance or a guarantee that they would not be taken advantage of by the government,” the 46th President said during a press conference on Thursday.
“For example, the ability to send remittances back to Cuba. We would not do that now because the fact is it’s highly likely the regime would confiscate those remittances or big chunks of it."
Protests in Cuba are occurring for a number of reasons, including its handling of the pandemic, food shortages, internet access, and access to medicine. The president, Miguel Díaz-Canel,
said in a TV address: "The order to fight has been given - into the street, revolutionaries!"
Miguel Díaz-Canel blames US sanctions for the nations economic conditions, which saw the economy drop 11% last year. He described the embargo as "Cruel and Genocidal".
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But what is the US sanctioned Embargo?
Due to the Batista dictatorship, the US first imposed an embargo on the sale of arms in Cuba in 1958. Cuba nationalised US-owned oil refineries in 1960, which led to further embargoes being placed on the country. From 2000, the embargo no longer prevents food and humanitarian supplies from reaching the people. The sanctions are to remain in place until Cuba moves towards "democratisation and greater respect for human rights".
“I’d be prepared to give significant amounts of vaccine if, in fact, I was assured an international organisation would administer those vaccines and would do it in a way that average citizens would have access to those vaccines,” President Biden said.
For
twenty-nine consecutive years, the UN has voted to dissolve the economic blockade, but in 2021,
Israel and the US were the only two countries to vote for its continued implementation.
During Obama's presidency, the laws surrounding the sanctions became more liberal. But this was overturned by President Trump, who imposed the strictest economic measures in decades and reintroduced the travel ban.
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Though Biden is head honcho, many other political powerhouses don't agree with his refusal to lift the ban. Senator Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote the following on Twitter:
"We are seeing Cubans rise up and protest for their rights like never before. We stand in solidarity with them, and we condemn the anti-democratic actions led by President Diaz-Canel. The suppression of the media, speech and protest are all gross violations of civil rights."
https://twitter.com/RepAOC/status/1415825886981545992
"We also must name the U.S. contribution to Cuban suffering: our sixty-year-old embargo. Last month, once again, the U.N. voted overwhelmingly to call on the United States to lift its embargo on Cuba.
"The embargo is absurdly cruel and, like too many other U.S. policies targeting Latin Americans, the cruelty is the point. I outright reject the Biden administration's defense of the embargo. It is never acceptable for us to use cruelty as a point of leverage against every day people."
