The Republic of Cuba is going through the toughest of times in recent history amid the protracted blockade imposed by the United States and its allies on the island country since the Cuban Revolution of 1959.
Despite the challenges, the Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel gave a very defiant speech at the March of the Combative People on December 20 in the Cuban capital Havana, where he announced to the world that Cuba is wedded to the ideals of its revolution and remains absolutely unshakable in the face of aggression.
He accused the Biden administration in the US, which has about one month left in the White House of not doing anything to move away from the line of reinforced blockade and economic suffocation of Cuba that was left as a legacy by the Republican administration that will return to the Oval Office in January.
He emphasized that with the application of the 243 additional measures and the maintenance of Cuba on the list of countries sponsoring terrorism, Biden has “disciplinedly and cruelly complied with the policy that Trump approved during his term.”
Cuba in recent months has had support from personalities in the United States and other parts of the world demanding that President Biden use his power to at least remove Cuba from that spurious list of nations sponsoring terrorism.
He said “pointing to Cuba as a State that supposedly sponsors terrorism is at the very least false and immoral, no matter where the accusation comes from, but it is doubly so when the accusation comes from US territory, where paramilitary groups that organize, promote and finance terrorist actions against social and economic structures in Cuba are currently training.
“They are based in South Florida and do not hide to train. They do so publicly, in plain sight and with the protection of local authorities, even violating their own laws and international treaties.
“This is how they have acted for many years, sheltering in their territory confessed terrorists from this continent, such as Luis Posada Carriles and Orlando Bosch, masterminds of the abominable crime in Barbados who, however, died peacefully in the United States without ever paying for their crimes.”
The Cuban leader buttressed that Cuba has no antecedents of sponsoring terrorism and has not demonstrated the capacity to do so, adding that even the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, last May acknowledged that there was no justification for Cuba to remain on that list.
There are suggestions from the Cuban President that the US acts in this way because the American policy towards Cuba was hijacked more than six decades ago by a mafia remnant of the Batista regime, based in southern Florida and before which they have shown weakness when it comes to acting coherently towards Cuba.
“Cuba’s continued presence on that list and the intensification of the blockade policy are ruthless actions against the Cuban people that must cease now.
“When financial transactions are persecuted and impeded in our international trade, the Cuban people are being denied food, medicine, fuel, goods, supplies and merchandise essential for their survival.
“When obstacles are placed on our exports or relations with our companies are persecuted and penalized, the country is being deprived of essential foreign currency to develop ourselves and to finance our project of social justice.
“When the contracting of online services is prevented or academic and scientific exchanges are restricted, a blow is being dealt to a nation that seeks to develop and move forward with its own talent and efforts, in the midst of an increasingly interconnected world,” Diaz-Canel said.
Demonstrating strength in the face of adversity appears to have kept Cuba going in the day-to-day life in which the country, its people and its government struggle to make their way.
“We do not profess the slightest feeling of hatred or animosity against the American people. To the noble citizens of that country we extend all our respect, and our hand is always extended to strengthen the bonds of brotherhood between the two peoples.
“It is the same hand that we have extended to all the governments of the United States, since the triumph of the Revolution until today, always based on a serious, respectful relationship and on equal terms.
“But if the United States persists in its efforts to undermine our sovereignty, our independence, our socialism, it will only find rebellion and intransigence. Every administration that has tried has been outlived by the Cuban Revolution, and it will continue to be so,” Diaz-Canel declared.
The Cuba- US diplomatic row calls for deeper reflection and a determined effort to resolve this long spat that has brought hardship to the Cuban people.
