On Thursday, June 22nd, the New York City Council, by a unanimous voice vote, passed a resolution calling on the United States to: 1) end its “illegal” 60-year sanctions on Cuba, 2) remove Cuba from the State Sponsor of Terrorism list; and 3) end the travel ban to Cuba.
When Cuba gained its independence in 1959, it exercised its right to self-determination, establishing socialism as the system to improve its people’s quality of life. In 1960, the U.S. imposed sanctions in what some activists call an attempt to overthrow the government by “strangling” the economy and creating hardship for the people, in addition to its alleged 600 unsuccessful attempts to assassinate President Fidel Castro.
Cuba: Friend of Black people
According to Kamau Brown of the December 12th Movement, “Despite the damage caused by U.S. sanctions, Cuba has proven itself a friend of Black people here in the U.S., in Africa and throughout the African diaspora. In sending 500,000 volunteer medical personnel and soldiers, it was instrumental in defeating apartheid and colonialism in Southern Africa. When Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, Cuba offered to send doctors to provide free medical care. The U.S. government rejected the offer. And of course, Cuba has provided political asylum to members of the Black Liberation Movement fleeing assassination and incarceration by the U.S. government.”
The City Council Resolution was sponsored by Brooklyn Council Member Charles Barron, and aligns New York City with the United Nations which, since 1992, has overwhelmingly condemned the U.S. sanctions as violations of international law and the U.N. Charter. Along with over 90 other cities across the U.S.A., a number of organizations, including the December 12th Movement (D12), Cuba-Si, the National Council of Black Lawyers, Struggle La Lucha, IFCO Pastors for Peace, the Young Communist League and the Democratic Socialists of America, supported and fought for the resolution.
D12’s Vinson Verdree noted that “The Black community from its experience witnessing the U.S. sanctioning Zimbabwe for taking back its land from settler/colonialists, knows the devastating effect which they can have on a country and its people. This is why we support the end of the blockade on Cuba.”
On Tuesday, July 11th, the December 12th Movement will be holding a program on “Sanctions Kill: the U.S. campaign to overthrow the Governments of Zimbabwe and Cuba” at 7 p.m. at Sistas Place, 456 Nostrand Ave. in Brooklyn. For more information, call 718-398-1766 or visit www.D12m.com
I doubt my comment will be published but I’m a black Cuban… What about signing a resolution to condemn the Castro family’s human rights violations for the last 64 years? Or their dictatorship and one-party system that the Cuban people have never chosen through free elections? Or their forced labor camps for the LGBTQ community? What about racism in Cuba, which is still like racism from the 60s: in your face, without shame, nobody thinks it’s wrong or even talks about it…? What about all the black kids (often minors) in prison right now just for a peaceful protest against the government on July 11th? These resolutions and this article are just political moves and the ultimate display of first-world privilege: everybody pushes their own agenda (relevant to their own countries) but no one actually cares about us Cubans suffering for 64 years just so you can keep dreaming about socialism from the comforts of democratic capitalism. Have you ever not had food, water, electricity, basic human rights, the chance to choose your workplace, your school, or your leaders, or to speak freely, or to demonstrate…? I doubt it. “Cuba: Friend of Black People”!? What a joke! Either you’re pushing an agenda without any decency or you’ve been fooled by Castro’s propaganda, tailored to naive progressives in democratic countries that don’t know what the Castros actually do inside Cuba.