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EDITORIAL

Hurricanes, Cuba and U.S. imperialsim

Published Sep 10, 2008 10:06 PM

Within the last few weeks three destructive hurricanes—Gustav, Hanna and Ike—have ripped across the Caribbean before hitting the U.S. All three did substantial damage to revolutionary Cuba as well as devastating Haiti and causing hundreds of deaths there. Ike, which hit all along the island from Santiago to beyond Havana, even left four people dead, fatalities that the socialist organization within Cuba had previously been able to avoid even while absorbing the punishment of these powerful storms.

That Cuban leader and former President Fidel Castro would make these hurricanes the topic of one of his messages is itself a sign of their importance. Fidel called attention to the great losses of fruit, vegetables and grains, exhorted his fellow citizens and especially political cadres to self-sacrifice and thanked friendly countries like Venezuela, Russia, China, Vietnam and even tiny East Timor for offering aid.

Along with the human solidarity we feel for our brothers and sisters, whether in Cuba, Haiti or on the Gulf Coast of Mexico and the United States, there is a political dimension to any natural disaster that must be taken into account. U.S. imperialism has attempted to take advantage of the damage caused by Gustav and Ike to offer “humanitarian assistance” to be preceded by an “assessment team.”

We should remind readers here that when New Orleans was devastated by Hurricane Katrina three years ago, Cuba offered to send medical teams for immediate field-hospital-type assistance—something the Cuban medical system has great experience in—and Venezuela offered to pay to fly the Cuban doctors in—and all this was rejected by the U.S. government without regard for the well-being of the mostly Black New Orleans survivors.

Unlike Cuba, whose doctors help worldwide without threatening nations’ sovereignty, U.S. “humanitarian assistance” has often been accompanied by the U.S. military. Think Somalia, Bosnia and every other intervention that is disguised as “humanitarian.” With U.S. imperialism already active occupying the former Yugoslavia, Iraq and Afghanistan, any “assessment team” must be seen as a potential threat.

Thus it should come as no surprise that the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs suggested that instead of sending an “assessment team” and “humanitarian help,” the U.S. could help most by simply ending the blockade that for almost the entire 49 years of Revolutionary Cuba’s existence has been an obstacle to the normal growth of Cuba’s economy and has cost Cubans hundreds of billions of dollars of lost value.

The Ministry pointed out that presidential candidate Barack Obama had suggested a 90-day suspension of the blockade to allow aid to be sent. A nice gesture. But how much better would be a simple lifting of the blockade that would stop the outrageous restrictions on normal trade between two neighboring countries, besides allowing Cubans and others inside the U.S. to send help to people in Cuba hurt by the hurricanes?

It is a normal sentiment to want to send aid to the Cubans as well as the Haitians hurt by the winds and flooding. But in Cuba’s case, more important than material aid from people in the U.S. would be a movement that demands the U.S. government finally put an end to the criminal blockade.

And while we’re at it, we should also make sure that the five Cuban heroes who have been in U.S. prisons for the last 10 years be free to return to their country (see article, this issue).