I cannot imagine Cuba in any other place, other than being "crossed" in the Caribbean Sea, at the entrance of the Gulf of Mexico, almost next to the United States, that powerful country that with waste of dislike forces the small island to grow in punishment, for the only fact of choosing the path of sovereignty; for building a Cuban democracy in front of the arrogant one.
I cannot imagine it on its knees next to someone who tries to dishonor it, with aggressions, attacks on embassies, invasions, attempts to assassinate leaders, slander of all kinds ... And everything from the country that tries to give lessons to the world without fulfilling a single one of them; everlasting preacher of human rights and imperishable violator of the same.
Cuba has had to endure, from the burning of cane fields to the interruption of medicine shipments, as part of the most brutal and extensive genocide ever committed against any country on the globe. It is well known.
What is less known, perhaps due to its remoteness in time, is that the claims and interest of the United States in Cuba date back to the early years of the 19th century, when the first approaches to the Cuban side began with a view to a possible action through an emissary, General James Wilkinson, in 1808, and consul and confidential agent William Shaler in 1810.
It was about exploring the path of the possible annexation of the nearby Island within the geostrategic conception that was being conformed, ostensibly in 1810 with the considerations of Governor William C. Claiborne when reporting on the occupation of western Florida:
(…) In the course of events, there is nothing I want more than to see the flag of my country waving at the Castillo del Morro. Cuba is the actual mouth of the Mississippi, and the nation that owns it may one day in the future possibly dominate the western region. However, allow the Island to be ours (…).
Although several surrender presidents have marked the fate of Cuba, even handing it over to the United States, history changed after the brightest January in the country, in 1959, when the price of freedom began to be breathed.
Moreover, the Goliath of the North was never before 62 years with the same pretensions. Too long fasting unleashes hunger and the desire to devour the island, appetizing? that since then began the path of its own development.
To cite just one example: How is it possible that a third world country, blocked for more than six decades, a fact considered a crime against humanity, can exhibit an infant mortality rate lower than that of the nation with the greatest economic strength in the world? Statistically it is inexplicable.
The explanation for this and many other achievements has to do with the tremendous creative energy that Cuba unleashed more than six decades ago, when a process of renewal and development began, with a humanist revolution, which turned the colony into a homeland; nation that has survived 45 US presidents and will do the same with 46 and the others who come to power.
A humanist revolution in the highest degree: Cuba was the first country to help the United States itself to face the devastations of Hurricane Katrina in 2005; it offered a medical brigade, opened its airports so that aircraft bound for the United States could land on the island, in the face of the terrorist attacks suffered by the northern power, and collaborated in matters of terrorism and the fight against drugs. And more.
Cuba received US citizens at the Latin American School of Medicine, on scholarships, to study for five years. Cuba has never done any harm to the United States. He has only offered gestures of goodwill. Of course, without putting sovereignty, self-determination and independence on the negotiating context, as Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, said in recent days.
«Those are not for negotiation (…). We did not make the differences. This is a very one-sided relationship. The one who applied the measures against Cuba was the US Government. We did not apply any measures against that country ... “the president reiterated.
In 2019, the resolution proposal "Need to end the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba" was approved by an overwhelming majority, with 187 votes in favor, three against (United States, Israel and Brazil ) and two abstentions (Colombia and Ukraine); in 2020 it was postponed to this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This June 23, the anachronistic and inhuman blockade will surely be condemned almost unanimously by the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) again.
After the vote, how much injustice and slander will have to be borne by the neighbor? How many banks will once again be fined in the world for making use of the legitimate right to trade with Cuba? How much longer will the decision to ban Cuba US cruise ships touch Cuban ports last? Or the medicine that any cancer patient needs in Cuba arrives? When will they stop offering millions of dollars for subversion? How much more will the inveterate north power do in a history full of cruelty and unkindness? How much more?
We must come together to defend the worth of a revolution with many values, because despite the regrets, paraphrasing the poet, this long-suffering but stubbornly happy Island has generated one of the most just societies in Latin America and the world.
Every worthy Cuban, wherever he is, should feel happy to enjoy that little moment in which everyone, or almost everyone, condemns power. We have a conscience to know and a memory to remember. The world has long been against the blockade, which at the UN is turning into an empty train of nations.