05/14/2004
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Marching against the USA. Havana is asking for international solidarity following
George Bush’s decision last week to tighten the embargo on Cuba. Today the population
is taking to the streets to demonstrate their opposition to the “arrogance of
empire” and to avert the possibility of armed conflict. At 7 am (local time),
hundreds of thousands of workers will march to the US Oficina de Intereses, located
close to the Malecón del Vedado, in the hope that other countries will follow
their example.
“We are asking all nations for support,” said Alberto Gonzalez, the Cuban ambassador in Honduras, “because only through a global mobilization of public opinion can we stop the USA from invading Cuba. We are preparing ourselves for Bush’s attack, as he has already shown how he is capable of attacking other countries, even if it means to go against the United Nations”.
“Cuba expects the worst”, begins the Milenio of Mexico City, emphasizing how
this is the first time since the nuclear crisis in 1962 that the risk of a direct
military conflict is so seriously close.
On the island itself, the state of alert reached a peak after May 6, when Bush received the file of the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba - which he appointed 6 months ago to examine the steps to be taken to hasten the end of Castro government – and declared: “My objective is to speed up the liberation of Cuba. This is what we are working towards”.
However, the most immediate measures are those aimed at strangling the Cuban
economy, starting by restricting the money remitted by emigrants. Until now, millions
of dollars a year have entered the island through relatives and friends living
abroad, so much so that some economists consider this the most important means
of support for the island, even more than tourism. Officially speaking, the USA
have always allowed Cuban immigrants to send a maximum of 100 dollars a month
to the island, although Cubans always succeeded in increasing this amount through
visitors shuttling back and forth the Caribbean country. Now, based on the new
US restrictions, this money can only be remitted to parents, children, spouse,
siblings, grandparents and grandchildren, but not to cousins and friends, and
a journey to Cuba will be allowed only every three years.
And that is not all. Resources have been allocated to sponsor intelligence work against the messengers. Although the plan is not yet in operation, only 7 days after the announcement, the number of weekly messengers in Havana has fallen by 90%. “I think this time we are facing a serious problem,” is the rumor across the island “We can only wait and hope for international solidarity. Or else...”
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A US tightening of the embargo is causing tensions to rise
Marching against the USA. Havana is asking for international solidarity following
George Bush’s decision last week to tighten the embargo on Cuba. Today the population
is taking to the streets to demonstrate their opposition to the “arrogance of
empire” and to avert the possibility of armed conflict. At 7 am (local time),
hundreds of thousands of workers will march to the US Oficina de Intereses, located
close to the Malecón del Vedado, in the hope that other countries will follow
their example.
“We are asking all nations for support,” said Alberto Gonzalez, the Cuban ambassador in Honduras, “because only through a global mobilization of public opinion can we stop the USA from invading Cuba. We are preparing ourselves for Bush’s attack, as he has already shown how he is capable of attacking other countries, even if it means to go against the United Nations”.
So far Mexico has been the first to speak out. Following the diplomatic breakdown
of the beginning of May, thousands of people took to the streets requesting that
relations with the island return to normal. They marched from Paseo de la Reforma
to Zocalo, and, with slogans and chants, asked president Fox for a foreign policy
independent from the United States.
The head of state responded promptly, refusing to collaborate with the economical isolation of the island from the rest of Latin America.
The head of state responded promptly, refusing to collaborate with the economical isolation of the island from the rest of Latin America.
Meanwhile, rumors are spreading worldwide on the seriousness of the crisis between
Castro and Bush.
“Cuba prepares for US invasion”, reads a title in The Australian, one of the most authoritative Australian daily papers.
“Cuba prepares for US invasion”, reads a title in The Australian, one of the most authoritative Australian daily papers.
“Cuba expects the worst”, begins the Milenio of Mexico City, emphasizing how
this is the first time since the nuclear crisis in 1962 that the risk of a direct
military conflict is so seriously close.
On the island itself, the state of alert reached a peak after May 6, when Bush received the file of the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba - which he appointed 6 months ago to examine the steps to be taken to hasten the end of Castro government – and declared: “My objective is to speed up the liberation of Cuba. This is what we are working towards”.
And so it was. The first move followed swiftly. Last Monday, the USA tightened
the embargo that has been strangling Cuba for a long time, bringing the island
to its knees.
“They are trying to reduce foreign currency resources to a bare minimum, even those that are vital for food, medical care, education and other essentials”, a well-known Cuban government official remarked. “Thus we have to take countermeasures that will require yet more sacrifices on the part of all Cubans ”. The state has therefore suspended the sale of all items in US dollars, with the exception of food and personal hygiene items.
“It is a temporary measure which aims to guarantee the supply of food and personal hygiene items to any Cuban without exception”, explained Orlando Requeijo, the UN Cuban ambassador, “We hope the situation will get back to normal very soon. I will be able to say more precisely in the coming days ”.
But what does this secret plan, contained in a 500 page document, which should enable the USA to get the better of Cuba, actually consist in?
“They are trying to reduce foreign currency resources to a bare minimum, even those that are vital for food, medical care, education and other essentials”, a well-known Cuban government official remarked. “Thus we have to take countermeasures that will require yet more sacrifices on the part of all Cubans ”. The state has therefore suspended the sale of all items in US dollars, with the exception of food and personal hygiene items.
“It is a temporary measure which aims to guarantee the supply of food and personal hygiene items to any Cuban without exception”, explained Orlando Requeijo, the UN Cuban ambassador, “We hope the situation will get back to normal very soon. I will be able to say more precisely in the coming days ”.
But what does this secret plan, contained in a 500 page document, which should enable the USA to get the better of Cuba, actually consist in?
It contains a series of proposals drafted by the Commission in charge, based
on the suggestions of the anti-Castro communities in Miami. It even contains a
section, which has remained secret up until now, in which the Cuban-Americans
apparently suggest killing Castro and followed by the immediate deployment of
the marines on the island to prevent “the continuity of the revolution against
power”.
The former US special ambassador, Otto Reich, one of the 34 Cuban exiles who
advise, or have advised the Bush administration, called the project “his baby”,
and Congressman Lincoln Diaz Balart, head of Washington’s anti-Castro lobby, explains
that it represents “a very serious compromise for Cuba’s freedom”.
With funding of 59 million dollars, the plan aims to involve the governments of different countries to neutralize the island's efforts to attract potential new customers for its products, to increase the international advertising campaign against Castro and to launch a media battle on the island; through the use of US Air Force planes of Comando Sol which will violate the Cuban airspace and transmit at the frequencies of the Martì radio and TV, a Washington based broadcasting station, which Cubans have so far succeeded in blocking.
With funding of 59 million dollars, the plan aims to involve the governments of different countries to neutralize the island's efforts to attract potential new customers for its products, to increase the international advertising campaign against Castro and to launch a media battle on the island; through the use of US Air Force planes of Comando Sol which will violate the Cuban airspace and transmit at the frequencies of the Martì radio and TV, a Washington based broadcasting station, which Cubans have so far succeeded in blocking.
However, the most immediate measures are those aimed at strangling the Cuban
economy, starting by restricting the money remitted by emigrants. Until now, millions
of dollars a year have entered the island through relatives and friends living
abroad, so much so that some economists consider this the most important means
of support for the island, even more than tourism. Officially speaking, the USA
have always allowed Cuban immigrants to send a maximum of 100 dollars a month
to the island, although Cubans always succeeded in increasing this amount through
visitors shuttling back and forth the Caribbean country. Now, based on the new
US restrictions, this money can only be remitted to parents, children, spouse,
siblings, grandparents and grandchildren, but not to cousins and friends, and
a journey to Cuba will be allowed only every three years.
And that is not all. Resources have been allocated to sponsor intelligence work against the messengers. Although the plan is not yet in operation, only 7 days after the announcement, the number of weekly messengers in Havana has fallen by 90%. “I think this time we are facing a serious problem,” is the rumor across the island “We can only wait and hope for international solidarity. Or else...”
But words of support are already coming. The Venezuela president, Hugo Chávez,
declared that the US government is practicing “state terrorism” against Cuba and
applauded the Mexican reaction of condemnation for the tightening of the embargo.
The Ecuadorian coordinator of solidarity with Cuba defined what is happening as
“an aggression, a blatant violation of human, social and political rights ”. Support
came also from Russia: youth organizations, teacher institutions and groups of
businessmen have rejected and condemned the actions of the US. From Nicaragua,
the former president Daniel Ortega points out that Bush's attitude shows the hopelessness,
frustration and failure of USA policies toward Cuba.
Yet the strongest reaction, rather unexpectedly, has come directly from the heart
of the Bush administration. Yesterday, a group of democratic and republican senators
sent a letter to the President, criticizing the White House strategy against Castro's
island. The letter was conceived by the Montana democratic senator Max Baucus
and was signed by his party colleagues, such as Christopher Dodd, from Connecticut,
and by Byron Drogan from North Dakota, but also by republican Mike Enzi, from
Wyoming, and Larry Craig, from Indiana, all farming states that export to Cuba.
The letter contains six recommendations to Bush aimed to “open the doors between
the United States and Cuban peoples”.
Stella Spinelli
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