06) CONGRATULATIONS TO CUBA!

People’s Voice Editorial

            History will be made this month, when President Barack Obama visits Cuba, the socialist island which has been the target of a US blockade for over half a century. In fact, Obama will be making a trip which for decades was considered a criminal act by the US government. This diplomatic step is the latest advance towards lifting the trade embargo imposed by John F. Kennedy during the Cold War, as a harsh punishment against Cuba for daring to challenge the doctrine of Yankee hegemony over the entire western hemisphere.

            The Cuban people and their government deserve full credit for achieving this breakthrough, against the bitter opposition of far-right forces inside the United States, which have used every form of violence and terror in their failed attempts to overthrow the Cuban Revolution.

            But this process is far from complete. The Republican-dominated Congress is still resisting the normalization of relations, including steps to lift the embargo, although President Obama has considerable powers to accomplish much of this goal (see page 9). The illegal US occupation of Guantanamo also remains a critical problem, one which must be resolved to the full satisfaction of Cuba. Not least, the US ruling class remains determined to maintain its network of paid agents within Cuba, with the aim of overturning the socialist gains of the Cuban people, and restoring capitalist (i.e. transnational corporate) control of the island’s economy.

            We are confident that the Cuban government will continue to defend its sovereignty and the interests of the Cuban people despite such imperialist pressures. If President Obama tries to play the “human rights” card during his trip to Havana, President Raul Castro can expose this hypocrisy by noting that the human rights of millions of US citizens are brutally violated on a daily basis. The time has come: Lift the embargo! End the occupation of Guantanamo!

(The above article is from the March 1-15, 2016, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading socialist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)