Fight for Cuba Symbolic but important
Published:Monday | October 11, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Opposition spokesman on Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Anthony Hylton, wants Parliament to yet again debate the impact of the United States-imposed economic embargo on Cuba.
Hylton wants Parliament to help the Government inform the United Nations (UN), in no uncertain term, that what the US is doing to Cuba is not only illegal, but has served to stifle the country's survival.
"The economic, commercial and financial blockage imposed by the US against Cuba continues to be the main obstacle to the development of Cuba and its recovery from the global recession and national disasters, resulting from intensified hurricanes," Hylton said in the House on Tuesday.
Violation of int'l law
It is anticipated that for the 19th consecutive year, member states will be using the UN's platform to call for an end to the economic embargo, which was imposed against Cuba in 1962. The motion is expected to be raised this month.
Hylton has argued that the blockade against Cuba is a violation of international law and "is contrary to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and to the norms governing international trade and freedom of navigation, as well as constituting a transgression of the right to peace, development and security of a sovereign state and which, in its essence and its aims, continues to be an act of unilateral aggression and a permanent threat against the stability of a member country of the United Nations".
The Gavel shares Hylton's views and we join the call for a full debate on the issue. Cuba is Jamaica's closest neighbour and they have contributed significantly to our development. It is our view that even if the embargo was necessary when Washington imposed it in 1962, the world is a brand new place today and the embargo is no longer prudent or appropriate.
We had hoped that US President Barack Obama would have moved decisively to remove this burden from the Cuban people, but his interventions, thus far, have not been encouraging. We, therefore, wonder if Cuba's survival is of major concern for Washington.
The call for the ending of the economic embargo has descended into shouts and screams right across the world, yet the US seem to ignore these voices. The resolution urging Washington to scrap the embargo has been approved by the UN General Assembly for 18 consecutive years. Last year, the resolution before the UN passed by a vote of 187-3 with two abstentions, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands. Israel and Palau joined the United States in opposed the resolution.
Last month, Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said Obama had increased enforcement of the embargo since taking over from President George W. Bush. "The policy of the blockade under President Obama ... hasn't changed at all, and one could say that in several aspects, enforcement of the blockade ... has gotten even stricter," Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said the policy had cost the cash-strapped island some $751 billion since its inception, when taking into account inflation and other factors.
There are many, including the US, who would dispute the cost of the embargo. What is a fact, though, is that Cubans are suffering as a result of this stifling embargo. Already, the first tranche of the 500,000 state workers Cuba plans to lay off by 2011, has been sent home. Cuba is in danger of complete collapse. Something has got to give, and since Jamaica has a voice at the table, we must continue to shout until the wall comes down.