Linda Scott
4 November 2008
opinion
ON Wednesday 29 October 2008, the United Nations General Assembly voted once again in favour of a resolution introduced by Cuba calling for an end to the ongoing economic sanctions against Cuba by the United States of America.
Only two countries, namely the US and Israel, voted against the resolution.
One wonders what interest Israel would have in maintaining sanctions against Cuba, an island on the other side of the globe! The following evening, the Cuban embassy in Namibia organised a viewing of the movie "The Cuban Blockade".
The movie outlined the long and horrendous blockade, or sanctions, imposed by the US against Cuba.
The economic sanctions against Cuba in effect began as the leadership of the former Batista regime left the country, taking with them money and national treasures, on the eve of the success of the Cuban Revolution which took place on 1 January 1959.
The blockade continues today, preventing Cuba from purchasing any kind of product, whether medication or electronic, which has any part of it manufactured by a US company.
This means, for example, that while Cuba could purchase an Airbus which is a European-made aircraft, because its electronics are manufactured by a US company, Cuba is prohibited by US law from purchasing the aircraft.
Any company in the world, which dares to sell its products to Cuba, lays itself open to prosecution by the US.
Clearly, the sanctions continue to have far-reaching effects on the country.
Why this continued intolerance of Cuba? Why would the US be prepared to trade with Saudi Arabia, where there are no political parties, when it refuses all interaction with Cuba? I would argue that it is because Cuba nationalised the land and US companies.
It is the ongoing insistence on compensation by an small elite living in the US for what they had used to enrich themselves to the detriment of the general Cuban population, that has caused the world's strongest economy to align itself against one of the world's smallest economies.
As one person interviewed in the movie said, the rest of Latin America continues to suffer great inequalities and poverty.
The capitalist and US-linked systems that were put in place in most Latin American countries have not addressed social indicators in the way that the Cuban system has done.
Indeed, while those countries showed little or no progress in terms of their social indicators, Cuba, despite its problems, has one of the lowest infant mortality rates in the world.
We Namibians can only stand in awe of the fact that Cuba, while under sanctions of an extreme, and sometimes violent nature, has managed to ensure that food is provided to all the old people and children.
Education, while taking place under difficult circumstances, has still managed to eliminate illiteracy.
This is a country which has been under tremendous pressure.
When I lived in Cuba for three years from 1991 to 1994, I experienced firsthand the agony of a country where the shops were literally empty.
A shop could in those days sell only cigarettes, or perhaps thread.
People were emaciated.
Fat people were non-existent and desperation was the order of the day.
The movie points out that the calorie intake of the population after 1990 dropped to 1900.
The World Health Organisation indicates that a normal person should have a calorie intake of 2 400 calories per day.
During the reign of former US President Bill Clinton, Cubans who lived in the US were allowed to visit their families once a year.
Since President George W Bush came into power, this has been restricted to once in three years, upon application to the US Government for permission.
The USA Government officials thus decide whether Cubans have the right to visit their own relatives in Cuba.
How amazing! The question arises: How long must the Cubans, who, despite their ongoing suffering, now have one of the world's best biotechnological centres and who have seen no one starve in nearly 49 years, continue to suffer under this terrible sanctions regime of the US? Surely logic would dictate to the US Government that it is time to reconsider their options.
Surely it is clear, that if they truly believe that the Cuban Government is undemocratic and that sanctions have not worked, a new strategy should be put in place.
What about lifting the sanctions and seeing if the Cuban Government would change or whether their form of democracy would be affected by the temptations of a free market? I suspect that the Cuban people would take their cue from the Venezuelans, who have decided to follow the Cuban example and implement more egalitarian policies.
I submit to my fellow Namibians that it is time for us to reconsider our Swapo policy manifesto and, taking into account the Swedish, Cuban and Venezuelan examples, shift our policies and regulations to meet our own goals, such as those laid out in Vision 2030.
I am convinced that the Cubans have much to teach us about structures which support our populations, grow literacy, and address the needs of our general population, rather than only the concerns of the narrow elite.
- Scott works for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The opinions expressed are entirely her own and do not reflect the views or the positions of the Ministry
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