Cuba and Trump (US)

The INDEPENDENT newspaper of Britain referred to President Trump as a ‘mentally unstable bully’, a description with which many Americans agree but most are afraid to say. The paper suggests that his spell has been broken but is cautious about this, wondering if Republicans are now showing some spine. Although we are seeing a few Republicans, especially in light of the upcoming midterm elections pulling back a bit on their total endorsement of Trump, there are others who seem to be as bad as Trump. Imagine Lindsay Graham suggesting that the Nobel Peace Prize be renamed the Trump Peace Prize. Is he for real/ Has he lost his senses? The Opinion polls are now showing Trump’s popularity at its lowest ebb, in fact among the lowest of any president. Trump’s misadventure in Iran has witnessed attempts in the global community where possible to reduce its links with the US. Within the US the impact of the crazy invasion of Iran on fuel prices, and the cost of living generally, have led to serious questions about the mental state of their 47th president. With the fallout from the invasion of Iran, it is felt that Trump is looking for what he thinks might be a weaker victim, to win back some support from the jingoistic Americans who see America as the centre of everything and those who want to Make Americans Great Again, the Maga crowd. Someone stated that the US was looking for a weaker victim “in order to mask its own fragility”.

In the same way they misread Iran, the same might happen with Cuba, a Caribbean Island that has long withstood the might of ‘Uncle Sam’. With the severe problems affecting Cuba, lack of fuel and electricity and other associated things there will obviously be a lot of dissatisfaction, but who is to blame? While I am focussing on Trump, I am fully aware that the hostility against Cuba did not start with Trump but has been a policy of the US since its introduction of a Trade and Financial embargo in 1962. Since 1992 the UN General Assembly has annually and overwhelmingly been calling for a lifting of the embargo, but that appears not to bother the US. Attempts were made under President Obama to begin to open dialogue and ease the pressure on Cuba, preparing the way ultimately for a lifting of the embargo. We will remember Obama shaking hands with Raul Castro at the 2013 funeral of Nelson Mandela. They met on two occasions after at the Summit of the Americas and at a meeting of the UN General Assembly. He also visited Cuba in 2016 for a bilateral meeting. President Biden did not follow through on these openings and made it possible for Trump to intensify efforts to crush Cuba and its people creating the humanitarian crisis that exists.

Starving Cuba of fuel affects their supply of electricity and water. Added to this are the threats to impose sanctions on countries that try to provide fuel supplies and humanitarian aid. The recent visit of the US powerful nuclear powered super carrier USS Nimitz to Jamaica, just 90 miles from Cuba, is part of the intimidation in preparation for what is a possible invasion, with a desire to change leadership. The indictment against Raul Castro has to do with the shooting down of two aircraft of the Miami based Brothers to the Rescue some 30 years ago. Cuba claimed to have given them regular warnings about their violation of Cuban airspace. With the many efforts by the US and Cuban exiles to destroy the Cuban regime, and following the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion one can understand Cuba’s vigilance about aircrafts from the US hovering around their airspace.

What ever happens to Cuba should be of deep concern to CARICOM countries. Since 1972, at the height of the Cold War leaders of Guyana, Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad tried to break the embargo by establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba. Other CARICOM countries have since followed suit. Cuba has offered significant help in the health and education sectors. CARICOM, through its Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR), has made its strongest statement so far on the US hostility to Cuba. It reaffirmed its need for the Caribbean as a zone of peace and was alarmed by US statements pointing to the possibility of military invasion of Cuba. It “unequivocally affirms Cuba’s sovereign right to import and receive fuel and condemns the obstruction of energy supplies to Cuba, which has precipitated a grave humanitarian crisis”. It associated itself with the annual resolutions of the UN General Assembly and reaffirms its position “that Cuba poses no threat to any nation, that it stands as a peaceful and cooperative member of the international community, and that the continued application of these unilateral coercive measures constitutes an unjustifiable violation of human rights, the principles of free trade, and the fundamental norms governing relations among sovereign states”. The CARICOM statement also reminded our people of the impact on CARICOM students studying in Cuba. The obvious efforts of Rubio and Trump to prevent a unanimous position by CARICOM (not that it really matters to them) has produced some results with the Republics of Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago having reserved their positions on the CARICOM statement.

Americans will soon realise that the constant statements and manoeuvring from their president is not in their best interest as is his ridiculous attempts to stamp his image on the US.

• Dr Adrian Fraser is a social commentator and historian