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The Forum > Article Comments > Hemispheric gangsterism: the US embargo against Cuba turns 60 > Comments

Hemispheric gangsterism: the US embargo against Cuba turns 60 : Comments

By Binoy Kampmark, published 8/2/2022

Towards Cuba, it is now 60 years since President John F. Kennedy's Presidential Proclamation 3447 imposed an embargo on all trade with the island state.

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Risable rubbish! Communist propaganda? The embargo was the result of a communist state potentially becoming an atomic missile launching pad for the USSR! And continues due to the human rights abuses that are part of Cuba's record.
Alan B.
Posted by Alan B., Tuesday, 8 February 2022 9:22:23 AM
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There are two distinct questions here.

First, is Cuba the innocent victim of US aggression? The answer to this is, clearly not. Sanctions were initially imposed, as Alan indicates, in response to Cuba inviting the USSR to place on its territory nuclear weapons that would be in range of US cities. Since then, Cuba has clearly been guilty of most of the things Binoy mockingly lists the USA of accusing it of - human rights abuses and lending support to revolutions in Africa and Latin America. I question whether it is actually “guilty” of socialism; like all self-described socialist and communist regimes, the reality is very different to the promise. Cuba is not the world’s worst "socialist" regime, but it shares the characteristics of all of them – oppression, denial of human rights and free speech, persecution of opponents, totalitarian efforts to control the details of everyday life, and the miserable standard of living that comes from a centrally planned economy.

Second, have sanctions been effective in changing or moderating the regime’s behaviour? The answer to this is also, clearly not. Castro ruled Cuba from 1959 to 1976, one of the longest-serving heads of state in the world. His brother ruled a further ten. In fact, economic sanctions are almost never effective, and more often than not are counter-productive because they give bad regimes an excuse, and a foreign scapegoat, for their people’s suffering. Saddam Hussein demonstrated this even more clearly than the Castro brothers.
Posted by Rhian, Tuesday, 8 February 2022 3:20:51 PM
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Cuba.
Lovely friendly hospitable honest people.
Terrible system mostly hated by the above people.
Posted by ateday, Tuesday, 8 February 2022 8:43:07 PM
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