By : Silva Knezevic*
The decision of the former U.S. administration to remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism ten days before the end of its term was truly ridiculous. Because it was known that one of the first actions of the new administration would be to return it to that list. And that is what happened. Immediately, at the same time as the massive deportations of immigrants. Probably to divert attention from the wars that will not cease in the blink of an eye, as was pompously announced. The reason for including Cuba in the infamous list is simple: to force the country to give up everything it has created, to bow down to the boss, leave the country, starve the people and in the end simply “take over”. Nothing more is said about the causes and motives, it is simply news being disseminated. There are no more questions.
All this is already known to those who follow the news, but it is not clear why there is no resistance from the “civilized” world to the oppression and suffocation of the people and of a sovereign country that has fought hard for its freedom and independence. Perhaps because of laziness to analyze and verify everything, to draw conclusions, perhaps because of the extended stereotype about Cuba -regime-dictatorship-human rights-poverty-. The part that concerns Cuban results and achievements is only mentioned in passing: science, culture, art, medicine, education, solidarity: the medical brigades and the education of young people from different parts of the world. When and how, for example, would a child from a poor family become one of the most sought-after dancers if he had not been able to develop his talent for free in one of the best ballet schools in the world? Like for example the famous Carlos Acosta, who does not forget his roots and his identity.
There are no mass protests against the sanctions imposed on a country increasingly alienated from global capital. There are various protests in various regions of the world: protests to defend the rights of LGBTI people, against all forms of violence against women, men, the elderly, children, actors, climate change. Even for the protection of animal rights ... Only occasionally against wars (the ones we “care about” and the others are mostly not even mentioned). We should be aware of the fact that we ourselves accept and allow the suffering of a whole people, because we silently support sanctions, which directly affect households and bring them to the brink of starvation Probably because the news that comes only bring half information, because they are taken as they are served; analyzing them causes discomfort because it also requires effort. The problem of modern democratic man is that he frequently avoids the news and, if he does not, he does not react. So is the principle: this is a big problem, but it is not “mine”. We usually react only when a problem approaches and becomes our own problem. The aforementioned sanctions and the country's inclusion on the list of those who support terrorism automatically close the flow of goods and connections with the rest of the world, which will be hard hit as soon as it enters into trade relations with “the forbidden zone”.
According to some estimates almost four hundred thousand people emigrated from Croatia. Demographers are worried. There are many highly educated emigrants, in whom the society has invested a lot of resources. So, people who are already highly educated left, whole families left, especially the younger generation. And all this is happening in an EU country, i.e. in the area of “prosperity, democracy, freedoms and rights”. A large number of people leave their country, but the foreign media do not pay special attention to it.
When hundreds of thousands of Cubans left their country in recent years due to the terrible consequences of the blockade, the media went crazy and wrote extensively about it as almost the only thing that characterizes that country. The interpretation goes something like this: Europeans leave, Cubans flee. So Europeans leave for economic reasons and Cubans flee for economic reasons. Europe belongs to that part of the world whose borders are gradually closing so that no one disturbs its well-being. Cuba is a country isolated by an absurd sixty-year blockade, and even more absurdly declared a promoter of terrorism, which opens the door to new and new sanctions, and therefore barely survives. I cant breathe!
Today's world is becoming increasingly ruthless, apathetic and disinterested in the real problems of people and nations outside the prosperity dome.
But not everyone has given up, not everyone looks away from the problem.
Some help with petitions and letters, like recently former presidents of Latin America and Europe who publicly supported Cuba. Publicist Ignacio Ramonet, for example, sent an open letter to the former U.S. president last fall, demanding the removal of Cuba from the list of alleged sponsors of terrorism.
As we can see, he succeeded, effectively removing it from the list for a week.
Some solidarity movements are calling for an end to the blockade of Cuba, committed groups are fighting to spread the truth and against the long-standing injustice inflicted on that country; in Italy, Sweden, Luxembourg, Switzerland, France, Germany, Greece... Groups that organize protests and concrete aid to this country, exhausted to the maximum (Damages of the blockade to Cuba exceeded five billion dollars in the last year. And so on for sixty years). Not even the richest countries could bear it, but somehow Cuba survives. The absurdity reached its peak when, during the Covid pandemic, teams of Cuban scientists created five types of vaccines, but could not vaccinate because they had no syringes.
It is difficult to understand that today's society is so consumer-oriented and has so little interest in those who have nothing and cannot spend.
Perhaps the knowledge we have is not enough to participate in the real development of the world and the new, free man, nor for solidarity with the despised and forgotten.
According to one's own conscience, one can at least support the needy with words. Perhaps they will touch others as well.
* Croatian intellectual