An open letter to Obama on his upcoming trip to Cuba

[polly7]

By Atilio Boron

Source: The Dawn February 27

They did everything they could to put an end to the revolution, but they couldn’t. They caused thousands of deaths and caused enormous harm and suffering to the Cuban people, with a blockade that amounted to two Marshall Plans, in present values. One of them was enough to rebuild Europe after the Second World War, two weren’t enough to sink Cuba. Isn’t that revealing? You and your secretary of state, John Kerry, have an enormous merit in being the first ones in acknowledging the resounding failure of the US policy against Cuba.

That is why you and Raúl Castro have decided to begin dismantling the blockade and creating, for real this time, a fresh start. That December 17, 2014 was a historic day. Then the embassies opened and now you are going to Cuba, and if your secret services allow it, you will be able to appreciate the Cuban people, their cordiality, their integrity, the freedom with which they express their feelings on any topic without fear, their pride for having resisted so many aggressions without ever bowing down. You may encounter many issues in Cuba, as in your own country, but Cubans were never brought to their knees (never!). And despite the adverse conditions that they have to endure daily, they still take better care than the US of the health and education of their people. You will see.

First of all, don’t bring US dollars. I know that for the head of the world’s greatest empire, President of the only country that emits the most powerful currency, that advice can sound absurd and even offensive. But before you step on the Air Force I, make sure that your entourage changes dollars to euros. Dollars are not very useful in Cuba, not because the Cubans have anything against it, but because of the stupidity of your predecessor, who, I guess while under the influence of some intoxicant, emitted an executive order that established that all dollars coming from Cuba had their origin in drug trafficking, and therefore were not acceptable for the US Treasury Department. If you take dollars, Cubans won’t be able to accept them, because they can’t do anything with them.

Dollars also won’t serve you to buy the magnificent paintings and sculptures by Cuban artists, nor do what almost all of your fellow countrymen and women do with almost religious devotion: to get on a 1955 convertible Cadillac and see the most beautiful sights of Havana, and, of course, enjoy an unforgettable stroll down the Malecón esplanade, and let the sea breeze fill you with positive energy. Lucky for you, if you arrive a day earlier you may see the Rolling Stones play for free, because in Cuba, unlike the rest of the world, these shows are free. With dollars you won’t be able to do any of this. That is, unless you annul Bush Jr.’s stupid decision before your departure.

Secondly, if your daughters don’t go with you on this trip, make sure you leave them some recent pictures of you, because Skype doesn’t work in Cuba. You may speak on the phone with them, if you’re lucky, but you won’t be able to see each other. As it turns out, as part of the blockade there are many regulations that impede or hinder the supply of Internet to Cuba. Take a look at a map of the cables that go across the Caribbean sea and you will see that Cuba has only one, and it barely works. This was the one that Hugo Chavez generously donated to the motherland of Martí and Fidel, and that some Americans like writer Ernest Hemingway and sociologist C. Wright Mills loved intensely. All the rest of the countries in the area are well connected by those cables, except Cuba.

Another practical advice: Cuban gastronomy is excellent. You will surely be offered the finest delicacies, such as the Cuban lobster, red like the revolution. The US has fine lobsters, too, but there’s nothing like the Cuban ones. But for the people in your entourage, who will probably not be as lucky, the culinary offer may seem disappointing, because there are not many things to eat, even in the best places in Havana. Why? Because Cuba has enormous restrictions to import any sort of good, even food, or medicines, from the US. They can’t use dollars, they have to triangulate every operation with third-party countries, any banks that enables them to do commercial transactions can be sanctioned with scandalous fines —like the 9 billion dollars that the Treasury Department asked the French bank Paribas. President Hollande, instead of dismissing the fine, which would be the sensible thing to do since US law does not apply outside the country’s borders, only protested that he thought it was“excessive”. De Gaulle must be rolling over in his grave…

As if this weren’t enough, if Cubans want to buy food from the US, they have to pay for everything in advance (this doesn’t happen anywhere else in the planet) and pay outrageous amounts for freight ships, because the blockade laws establishes that ships that have transported goods to, or from, Cuba can’t dock in the US in the subsequent 6 months.
Are you not a believer in the virtues of free commerce? Then let Cubans practice it!

Full article: https://zcomm.org/znetarticle/an-open-letter-to-obama-on-his-upcoming-trip-to-cuba/

[Mika]

1. As you know, the Cuban gov't & people have ALWAYS sought normalization.

Of course, there have been incidents where there might have been tensions (most of which instigated by the US), but, overall, the Cubans harbor no ill will towards Americans, except for some reservations over the US gov't.

Thanks for posting this.

[polly7]

2. Thanks for your remarks, Mika.

Like all people in LA and the Caribbean and elsewhere, they've been through so much but have such an amazing spirit that just doesn't include animosity towards others.

I've watched over the years how they've sent Doctors and medical staff to so many other nations to train and do humanitarian work - I love them so much for that.

[Judi Lynn]

3. You might remember Cuba's doctors volunteered to come to the US to help

with the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

As a memory refresher, here's an article from NBC:

Katrina aid from Cuba? No thanks, says U.S.

America welcomes foreign help, except from an old Cold War foe


[font size=1]
Roberto Leon / NBC News

Although it is unlikely they will be going anywhere, Havana
doctors Luis Sauchay and Delvis Marta Fernandez prepare
their knapsacks of emergency medical supplies for Katrina
victims.
[/font]
Mary Murray

Producer

NBC News

updated 9/14/2005 8:38:32 AM ET


HAVANA — Dr. Luis Sauchay is the kind of hands-on physician you want in an emergency.

Though relatively young at 34, Sauchay has chalked up more than a decade of practicing hardship medicine.

Right out of medical school, he spent two years on the high seas, the only doctor for hundreds of fishermen aboard an industrial vessel.

During two other years, he cared for the sick and forgotten in an understaffed African clinic, treating countless cases of tuberculosis and cholera.

For the last five years, he has been the local family doctor for 200 working-class families in Havana’s Párraga neighborhood.

More:
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/9311876/ns/us_news-katrina_the_long_road_back/t/katrina-aid-cuba-no-thanks-says-us/#.VtTRdOT2abw

[center]~ ~ ~


In 2005, 1,586 Cuban doctors wait, ready to assist Hurricane Katrina survivors.





Cuban medical personnel assembled to assist Lousiana after Hurricane Katrina

[/center]
We also remember their heroic work on Ebola. They were there first.

Also they were in Haiti working with the people before the earthquake, and continued to help with more reinforcements, and during the horrendous sickness which spread from the UN workers into the water supply. They are real heroes, no doubt about it, and loved all over the world, outside the U.S.

[polly7]

4. Thank you! I'd missed this.

Heroes, in my eyes. Selfless men and women committed to saving lives - what real medicine is all about. I remember them being turned down during Katrina ... that was just a nasty slap in the face and just awful for all the people they could have helped so quickly.

Thank you again, I always love reading your information on all of this.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

5. There's no valid reason for...

...the US not to have normalized relations with Cuba. Yet another of many many examples where US foreign policy runs directly counter to the best interests of US citizens.