For the 32nd time, the UN general assembly has voted to condemn the United States embargo against Cuba by an overwhelming majority. The resolution passed through a vote of 187-2, with only the United States and Israel voting against the resolution, and an abstention from Moldova. The Caribbean nation, which lies just 70 miles away from the Florida Keys, has been under trade embargo from the world superpower since 1962, when President John F. Kennedy announced the “embargo of all trade” with the nation as part of the larger Cold War with the USSR. The country’s leader, Fidel Castro, had gained power through a violent revolution against its brutal U.S.-backed dictator, Fulgencio Batista, in 1960.
The effect of the sanctions enforced by the U.S. are all-encompassing, affecting the Cuban economy at every level as imports of all kinds are severely restricted to the island nation. Fuel as well as components for any kind of industry are severely restricted, the cost of which was made manifest just recently, as ageing technology and lack of imports contributed heavily to the blackouts that have rocked the country. Online transactions, taken for granted nearly everywhere else in the world, can be all but impossible for the people of Cuba, even for benign goods like music editing software, as Cuban credit cards are not accepted by the vast majority of merchants. In 2018, the United Nations acknowledged that the embargo has cost the Cuban economy more than $130 billion since its establishment. The cost in related deaths remains unknown, but is widely recognized as a factor.
The presidency of Barack Obama marks the last time that an American policy shifted towards détente with Cuba, easing a variety of restrictions that have been piled on to JFK’s original executive order over the years – a period now known as the “Cuban thaw.” The 44th President eased travel restrictions for those with family in Cuba (“no more than 3 generations removed from that person”) and facilitated the sending of remittances, while also enabling broader changes that allowed for greater internet penetration into the country. This shift in policy culminated with the two countries officially restoring relations in 2016.
The moves towards rapprochement between the two nations came to a grinding halt with the election of Donald Trump, who reversed Obama’s measures and returned to a “maximum pressure” strategy against the country, a policy that has continued under Biden. While the 46th President has eased some restrictions, like allowing entrepreneurs from the country to establish foreign bank accounts and avail themselves of more online services, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez was hesitant to give Biden any credit, saying that the country has lost over $16 billion due to sanctions under his administration alone despite the changes. At the U.N. today, Rodriguez condemned Cuba’s neighbor to the north severely. “President Joseph Biden’s administration usually claims that its policy is intended to ‘help and support the Cuban people,’” he said. “Who would believe such an assertion?”
