Last week, the State Department released a 100-page document titled “Cuba: The Capital of 21st Century Communism.” Those 100 pages contained a multitude of outright lies, excoriating damnations, and the creation of a mythical nation of epic proportions, hellbent on destroying the U.S. I can only hope that whoever wrote the report stretched before that reach, lest they pull a hamstring.
The attack on left-leaning people and organizations by the Trump administration is not new, nor are the attacks on Cuba since the revolution. Still, those who occupy the White House are escalating their attacks by accusing the Cuban government of carrying out a “campaign of subversion” that has “infiltrated the highest reaches of the U.S. government, recruited and cultivated generations of American activists [and] backed an unprecedented wave of leftwing terrorism on American soil.” Quite a statement, especially from a nation that is responsible for multiple acts of terrorism around the globe, including in Cuba.
A year and a half ago, the U.S. removed the $10 million bounty on the now Syrian leader, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, after he led the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad. Sharaa was the head of the rebel group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), which the U.S. had designated a terrorist group. But since Sharaa acted in a manner that was beneficial to U.S. foreign interests, he got a pass. Plus, one of the many ever-changing reasons for the continuing war with Iran is to stop an authoritarian regime from acquiring a nuclear weapon. And yet, the Trump administration is currently in talks with the authoritarian Saudi Arabian government to assist them in developing their nuclear program. Since right-wing terrorism is as American as apple pie, it not only gets a pass, it gets a helping hand.
While continued attacks by the U.S., from trade embargoes to sanctions to blockades, have decimated Cuba, the people have persevered, and that is something that Secretary of State Marco Rubio cannot stand. Back in May, Rubio said Cuba poses a “national security threat” to the U.S. For those with a short memory, this remark from Rubio came after the U.S. bombed an elementary school in Iran, killing over 100 children. And for those who might not have been alive to witness it, or who have an even shorter memory, the invasion of Cuba by U.S. forces in the Bay of Pigs came before the Cuban missile crisis.
The violence perpetrated by the U.S. on the Cuban people has escalated to a humanitarian crisis. Fuel shortages caused by a U.S. oil blockade have led to electrical blackouts, food shortages, and death. The nationalized healthcare system in Cuba leads to better health outcomes than what passes for healthcare in the U.S., despite spending far less than we do. A higher life expectancy and a lower infant mortality rate are outcomes to be proud of, and being able to access healthcare at no charge and no risk of going bankrupt should be the envy of our politicians. Since many of our politicians openly accept bribes from for-profit health insurance companies in the name of “campaign donations,” we remain one of the few countries not to guarantee healthcare to its people.
The ruling class in the U.S. hates free healthcare so much that they are actively denying it to people in Cuba. Surgeries are being postponed or, in emergency cases, done by flashlight. Medicine is continually in short supply, and ambulances are unable to transport people due to empty fuel tanks.
While the State Department writes a 100-page manifesto denouncing Cuba that is heavy on accusations and light on evidence and substance, the White House and political pundits on conservative news networks express shock that the idea of socialism and what it has to offer is appealing to anyone. Here’s what they don’t understand: Cuba didn’t introduce Communism to the U.S.; the ruling class did.
The working class has always organized around issues that affect them the most, and the ruling class continually ignores them. When the workers say that rent is too high and mortgages are out of reach, the conversation doesn’t turn to making housing affordable. Instead, the landlord organizations and mortgage companies throw more money at their politicians to make the problem go away, and in turn, these politicians equate fair housing practices with communism. When the workers say that wages have not kept up with production and inflation, the politicians pass laws that destroy unions while business owners spend millions on anti-union propaganda. Instead of a conversation about how much democratic control the workers should have over their workplace, the ones in charge say that’s socialism, and the conversation ends.
It is far easier to scream “communism” than to explain why someone who is working 40 hours a week cannot afford housing and healthcare. The ones in charge know this, and they know if the working class starts to organize, then the ruling class is in trouble. That is why the U.S. is so fixated on destroying Cuba, because the Cuban people organized, overthrew their oppressors, and took their lives into their own hands. As soon as the working class starts asking questions about who owns what, who works for whom, who gets paid, and who gets rich, the people sitting in their ivory towers get nervous. The U.S. government cannot allow that to happen here, so it does everything in its power to prevent it.
What the Cuban people have done since the revolution is show the world what a country can do when it throws off the shackles of its capitalist colonizers. Attacks on leftists are not new, and the public’s acceptance of their demonization will eventually pave the way for other groups to be harassed and jailed. We’ve seen this before, for when the first Jewish people arrived in Dachau, they found it already full of leftist dissidents. We either learn from history, or suffer under our own ignorance.
As with all op-eds published by People’s World, the views expressed here are those of the author.
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