Washington Successfully Pressures Countries To Withdraw Support For Cuba

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Written by Ahmed Adel, Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher

On October 29, 167 United Nations member states voted in favor of a resolution against the United States blockade of Cuba, with only seven no votes and 12 abstentions. Nonetheless, the UN vote comes amid pressure from Washington urging countries to withdraw their historic support for the island nation, which this year has seen some success.

The blockade to suffocate the Cuban economy and people has been ongoing and intensified by Washington for decades, but has especially escalated under the administration of President Donald Trump, meaning the US will ignore the UN resolution. The blockade has been in place since early 1962, but economic measures against the Caribbean country began in January 1959. In recent years, it has reached truly extraordinary levels of cruelty, hatred, and persecution. During Trump’s first term (2017-2021), 243 measures were imposed on Cuba, and since his return to the White House at the beginning of the year, the sanctions have increased.

The US, in its eagerness to embolden the Latin American right and endanger regional stability, is deploying troops, military vessels, and naval forces near Venezuela and has placed a price on the head of President Nicolás Maduro.

Furthermore, the Trump administration sanctioned Colombian President Gustavo Petro and increased tariffs on Brazilian exports by 50%, because the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva made the sovereign decision to bring former President Jair Bolsonaro, known as the “Tropical Trump,” to trial. This generated one of the worst crises in diplomatic relations between Washington and Brasilia.

These measures demonstrate the Trump administration’s attempts to blackmail and pressure various Latin American countries, even threatening them, all with the goal of changing their traditional vote of support for Cuba.

Ahead of the latest UN vote, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla warned about the White House’s diplomatic maneuvers aimed at altering votes and weakening support for the non-binding resolution that the 193 UN member states reviewed.

The Cuban foreign minister mentioned the existence of “reliable information regarding the intimidating pressure being exerted by the United States government on several countries, especially in Latin America and Europe, with the aim of forcing them to modify the traditional and historical position they have assumed and maintained in support of the resolution against the blockade.”

It appears that this pressure has worked. Last year, the resolution received 187 votes in favor, two against (from the US and Israel), and one abstention from Moldova. This year, Argentina, Hungary, North Macedonia, Paraguay, and Ukraine also voted against, while Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Costa Rica, Czechia, Ecuador, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Morocco, Poland, and Romania also abstained.

What these countries that have submitted to Washington’s pressure on Cuba do not consider is the devastating impact US sanctions and blockade have on the people of the country.

Representatives of organizations, networks, actors, and social movements in Cuba presented on October 24 at the Casa de las Américas, located in Havana, the Declaration of the XXI Forum of Cuban Civil Society against the blockade and the devastating impact of US policy in sectors such as health, education, and care for people with disabilities.

As a result of US policy, students with disabilities can only access conventional wheelchairs. Children aged five or six can only use large, wide chairs, as they do not have access to smaller ones appropriate for their age. Eleven children with progressive muscular dystrophy also do not have the appropriate wheelchairs for the degenerative condition. In one institution alone, nearly 30 children with ataxia cannot receive treatment with botulinum toxin because the US refuses to sell it to Cuba. Due to economic sanctions, there is also a lack of buses to transport students. At one institution, there are seven buses, without elevators, that travel around the city to pick up students from their homes.

The US blockade causes limitations for the diagnosis and treatment of many conditions, which jeopardizes children’s quality of life, causes severe complications, and even leads to death. The resources needed for these medical procedures cannot reach the country because the companies that supply them are subject to the restrictions imposed by this US policy.

Nonetheless, the quality and expertise of Cuban medical professionals allow the country to substitute for some of the missing inputs with scientific knowledge and national and international research. However, interaction with scientists from other countries is also restricted, as bank transfers for membership payments or event participation cannot be made from Cuba.

The Declaration of the XXI Cuban Civil Society Forum also reaffirmed that the blockade constitutes a massive, flagrant, and systematic violation of human rights, including the right to life, health, and equality, and noted that the accumulated damages over more than six decades amount to $170 billion. This amount is expected to rise as Trump escalates economic attacks on Cuba.

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