Jamaica must now stand with the Cuban people

THE EDITOR, Madam:

This past weekend, tens of thousands of angry Cuban citizens marched in cities across their nation demanding food, vaccines and a change in how they are governed. The scenes were unprecedented in a country where any expression of dissent is forbidden by the communist government. Multitudes of Cubans, self-organising and channelling their rage towards the sole unelected political party, must be of grave concern to the government leaders, especially since they are accustomed to overseeing a docile population that suffers its injuries quietly.

Jamaica, and the border Caribbean Community (CARICOM), should support this protest movement as Cubans demand not only relief from a worsening humanitarian crisis, but inclusion in helping to chart the country’s future course. We all should want for Cubans what we expect of our own Government: legitimate elections; and civil and political liberties within an economic order that arcs towards prosperity.

CUBA’S KINDNESS

As one of the Cuban government’s staunchest allies, Jamaica will be hesitant to support the uprising. After all, the Castros have been kind to Jamaica, and CARICOM more broadly. Over 1,300 Cuban medical personnel are currently deployed across CARICOM countries, and to date, almost 6,000 Caribbean nationals have graduated from Cuban tertiary institutions.

Fidel earned the Caribbean’s fidelity not only because of his largesse towards the region, but also because for decades he was a booming anti-imperial voice, unrepentantly expressing contempt towards First-World nations (that is, the beneficiaries of colonialism), on behalf of the Third World (that is, the losers of colonialism). The indefatigable leader even audaciously supported and advanced black liberation movements across Africa, helping to free millions of Africans from colonial subjugation.

FIDEL’S FAILURE

However, Fidel failed where and when it most mattered to the people that sacrificed the most for his revolution. He and the government that he left behind have failed to ‘uplift Cubans, as he pledged to do in hundreds of speeches. They have failed to deliver the most important freedom people expect from any legitimate, ruling political class: the freedom from want.

Cubans routinely experience long periods (months to years) where grocery store shelves are almost bare. Currently, eggs, meat and dairy products are practically luxury commodities, out of the reach of citizens the way that a pound of lobster is out of the reach of most Jamaicans.

Further, most Cubans receive a state salary of $20 per month, well below the international poverty line of US$1.90 per day (this figure does not account for no-cost state services, such as healthcare and education). For context, a $3.00 deodorant is one-eighth of the average Cuban’s monthly salary.

Still, many will point to the American trade embargo as the reason for Cuba’s economic dysfunction, but the embargo exempts food and medicine, and Cuba routinely trades with many other countries in the world, especially with China, the island nation’s largest trading partner. Tourists from Europe, Canada and Russia routinely stay at Cuba’s luxury, all-inclusive hotels as they do in Jamaica. Raul Castro even once remarked in a speech that “It is about time that we stop blaming the blockade for our own inefficiency and incompetence.”

CANNOT REMAIN QUIET

The world is full of dichotomies, contradictions and ironies. One of the saddest ironies of our region’s contemporary history is that Fidel Castro helped to liberate and uplift millions across the world, while stifling the freedoms of the 11 million people under his charge. The nationwide protests are both an outcome and irrefutable evidence of these deprivations. The Díaz-Canel government can start to correct this still-unfolding wrong, but it needs to do so in a hurry to mitigate a full ‘counter-revolution’ that may seal in its political doom.

Last, Jamaica, and the broader Caribbean Community, cannot afford to remain quiet as the crisis plays out. We must take a principled position in favour of the Cuban people as a matter of conscience, human rights and fraternity.

OLIVER LEIGHTON BARRETT