The US announced new sanctions on Cuban officials on Thursday as the Biden administration continues a hardline approach towards Havana.
Thursday’s sanctions marked the fourth round since anti-government protests took place in the country in July. The sanctions targeted two military officials and one prison official.
Considering Cuba has been under a US trade embargo for over 60 years, sanctions on government officials have virtually no impact, but they do send a message that the Biden administration has no plans to ease the pressure.
As a candidate, President Biden vowed to return to the Obama-era Cuba policies. The Obama administration took steps towards normalization with Havana but never filled lifted the trade embargo, so the steps were easily reversed by Trump.
One reason that Biden could be taking a hardline approach to Cuba is to secure more votes in Florida for the next election. Democrats have traditionally done very well in the Miami-Dade country of Florida, which is home to many Cuban Americans. In 2016, Trump won the state of Florida, but Hillary Clinton won Miami-Dade by nearly 30 percent. In 2020, President Biden won the county, but only by about 7.5 percent.
Biden’s Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who is Cuban-born himself, visited Miami Thursday and met with Cuban American activists. One Cuban American who met with Mayorkas said the 2020 election results in Miami-Dade were a “wake-up call” for the Democrats.
Mayorkas was vague with reporters when asked about Biden’s Cuba policies. “The Biden-Harris administration will develop its policy toward Cuba in support of the Cuban people with the Cuban American community,” he said.
Last month, in the wake of anti-government protests in Cuba and the assassination of Haiti’s president, Mayorkas, whose family fled Cuba after the revolution in 1959, delivered a warning to Cubans and Haitians not to come to the US. “The time is never right to attempt migration by sea,” he said. “Allow me to be clear: If you take to the sea, you will not come to the United States.”
Team Biden wants to create a Cuban domestic crisis and eventual colour revolution, which will need disaffected Cubans to stay and revolt.
Not sure if Cuba will as easily fall into chaos as Haiti, but without a first-generation Castro the government lacks charismatic leadership.
Cuba needs to concentrate on food sovereignty. Surely there is a charismatic farm family in Cuba.
There were some inspiring docs on Cuba’s post-Soviet organic green revolution, but by Western admirers.
The Cuban government may not understand modern propaganda well enough to realize the importance of personalizing the positive experience of successful ordinary people as a shared community thing.
Collectivism and petty officialdom tends to discourage promoting individuals out of disdain for individualism, except in extreme cases of war or natural disaster where the need for heros is far more obvious.
Everyday celebrity is overdone here as to inspire cynicism, but the exact opposite may apply in Cuba; no examples as to how to carry on everyday life and affirm that the grass is still green this side of the fence.
I suppose the USA often has charismatic leaders, and that explains their fantastic success.
Celebrity is integral to the propaganda industrial complex.
So now we understand why Sleepy Joe insists on immiserating Cuba: it’s politics, stupid. Cuban Americans apparently cannot get over the fact that 60 years ago the people of Cuba had a Revolution and kicked out the Batista ruling classes. Now they are comfortably ensconced in US and can pull political strings to torment their former country by playing Democrats against Republicans.
Despite all the history of the last sixty years, I cannot accept that the USA is so afraid and so vicious that this sort of continuing punishment of a small country that dares to be independent and help its people develop can go on. How petty can even Joe Biden get?
Perhaps Cuba is actually better off without “aid” from Amerikkka; I would certainly hate to see the Amerikkkanization of Cuba, with their unique and appealing culture.
Cuba’s health care and educational systems are far superior to Amerikkka’s.
Amerikkkan influence would be extremely detrimental to the CubAn way of life. I can just see Amerikkkan billionaire investors lining every Cuban beach with high-rise condos and hotels.
That being said, F*ck you, Bye-den.
We should continue our embargo on Cuba because it has been such a success. If the embargo had not been put in place 60 years ago, the Communist regime in Cuba might still be in power.