Donald Trump, the shill who speaks for the big energy monopolies and a wide range of racist and fascist movements, has issued another verbal assault against Cuba, which has seen many US presidents utter similar words since 1959. Speaking in Miami, surrounded by terrorists and brutal thugs, Trump announced steps to expand the blockade, to stop “people-to-people” exchanges, and to rescind Barack Obama’s October 2016 Presidential Directive, which recognized the independence and sovereignty of Cuba.
Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez spoke about the situation at a recent news conference in Austria, pointed out that countless voices within and outside of the United States believe that Trump’s speech marks a step back in bilateral relations. These new measures ignore overwhelming support for the lifting of the blockade and normalization of US-Cuba relations, not just among progressives, but by members of the U.S. Congress (including Republicans); the business sector; civil society organizations; and even the majority of the Cuban emigré community. In fact, during the November 2016 election, Trump backed the aging, extremist minority of hostile emigres, but lost the vote of Cubans in the Florida counties with the highest concentration of Cuban residents.
The Foreign Minister added that the announced measures will “restrict the freedoms of U.S. citizens, cost taxpayers more money, reduce the opportunities of companies and business people against their competition, lose income and jobs.” These policies will inflict further human harm and deprivation upon Cuban families, including those involved in cooperatives, and self-employed or private workers.
Rodriguez concluded that these attacks will reinforce the patriotism and dignity of the Cuban people, and their determination to defend national independence by all means, in the spirit of José Martí, Antonio Maceo and Fidel Castro Ruz. His words ring true, and we express our solidarity with the people and government of Cuba.
