https://sputnikglobe.com/20240406/us-uses-legislative-power-to-punish-countries-that-escaped-their-imperialist-control--1117774456.html
US Uses Legislative Power to Punish Countries That Escaped Their ‘Imperialist’ Control
US Uses Legislative Power to Punish Countries That Escaped Their ‘Imperialist’ Control
Sputnik International
Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart, chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, and Rep. María Elvira Salazar proposed new sanctions against Cuba, reaffirming its designation as a state sponsor of terrorism.
2024-04-06T04:26+0000
2024-04-06T04:26+0000
2024-04-06T04:26+0000
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Cuban-American members of the US House of Representatives Mario Díaz-Balart (R-FL) and María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) have proposed new sanctions against Cuba reaffirming the country's designation as an alleged state sponsor of terrorism.According to a report published by Responsible Statecraft, the move would block assistance to the country’s private sector and penalize nations that host Cuban medical missions, accusing them of perpetuating “modern slavery.”The legislation prohibits the Biden administration from supporting Cuba’s private sector, a US policy under Presidents Obama, Trump, and Biden. Rep. Salazar called the private sector a “myth," arguing that relatives of government officials own some of the businesses."Díaz-Balart forced the Biden administration to abandon plans to assist the Cuban private sector last year by threatening to block aid for Ukraine," reported the article.Pan-Africanist organizer Netfa Freeman and Yolian Ogbu, a member of the Black Alliance for Peace and Horn of Africa Pan-Africans for Liberation and Solidarity, joined Sputnik’s The Critical Hour program Friday to discuss the development. Sputnik’s Garland Nixon likened the US' actions against Cuba to its role Haiti, suggesting the US cannot forgive either country for escaping US imperialism.“The [US] have sanctions now that are blocking assistance to Cuba's private sector, which they've always tried to buttress, on the grounds that there is no private sector, that everything is owned by Cuba,” he added.“Where the US and the Western countries are always sending occupation forces and creating war, Cuba sends doctors and teachers for selfless missions.”Ogbu agreed with the analysis, noting that hostility between the United States and the communist-ruled island goes back decades.“Lawmakers and congressional members that already have a particular gripe against Cuba continue to put up these ridiculous bills through to Congress,” the activist claimed. “And it goes back to a lot of this anti-communist rhetoric and consciousness and thinking in this country that is so easy because we're so propagandized to just believe many of the lies about Cuba.”Haiti held democratic elections in 1990 but the US opposed Haitians' choice of populist leaders who wanted to make Haiti more equitable.In 2011 — following Haiti’s devastating earthquake the year prior — the US interfered in Haiti’s presidential election by accusing their preferred candidate Michel Martelly's opponents of fraud. The US then backed Martelly’s successor Jovenel Moïse until his assassination in 2021, after which they supported Ariel Henry, a chronically unpopular “acting” president.Former US Representative Andy Levin writes that as the US supported Henry, Haiti descended first into “kleptocracy, then into systematic gangsterization and lawlessness, and finally into complete chaos — until the whole house of cards came crashing down last month. As gangs united against the government and prevented Henry’s plane from landing at the Port-au-Prince airport, even the United States had to concede that its handpicked “leader” was no longer tenable."The former US politician then described what a “real democracy” would look like — unsurprisingly, it resembles what US imperialists often lambast as "socialist propaganda."
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US Uses Legislative Power to Punish Countries That Escaped Their ‘Imperialist’ Control
Cuban-American lawmakers sponsored a bill preventing the Biden administration from removing Cuba from a list of state sponsors of terrorism until they form a multi-party democracy.
Cuban-American members of the US House of Representatives Mario Díaz-Balart (R-FL) and María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) have proposed new sanctions against Cuba reaffirming the country's designation as an alleged state sponsor of terrorism.
According to a
report published by Responsible Statecraft, the move would block assistance to the country’s private sector and penalize nations that host Cuban medical missions, accusing them of perpetuating “modern slavery.”
The legislation prohibits the Biden administration from supporting Cuba’s private sector, a US policy under Presidents Obama, Trump, and Biden. Rep. Salazar called the private sector a “myth," arguing that relatives of government officials own some of the businesses.
"Díaz-Balart forced the Biden administration to abandon plans to assist the Cuban private sector last year by threatening to block aid for Ukraine," reported the article.
Pan-Africanist organizer Netfa Freeman and Yolian Ogbu, a member of the Black Alliance for Peace and Horn of Africa Pan-Africans for Liberation and Solidarity, joined
Sputnik’s The Critical Hour program Friday to discuss the development.
Sputnik’s Garland Nixon likened the US' actions against Cuba to its role Haiti, suggesting the US cannot forgive either country for escaping US imperialism.“I would dare say that Cuba has been able to establish one of the most revolutionary socialist projects in the world, and have been able to exercise degrees of self-determination and popular democracy,” Freeman insisted. “A lot of people don't see Cuba because of the propaganda [as a] democracy. And I would venture to say that Cuba's one of the most democratic places on the face of the earth.”
“The [US] have sanctions now that are blocking assistance to Cuba's private sector, which they've always tried to buttress, on the grounds that there is no private sector, that everything is owned by Cuba,” he added.
24 August 2023, 17:18 GMT
“Where the US and the Western countries are always sending occupation forces and creating war, Cuba sends doctors and teachers for selfless missions.”
“The sanctions they're trying to impose, sanctions that affect other countries, say that they'd be aiding 'modern slavery,'" Freeman explained. "They're trying to say that their doctors are forced to do it, and... they constitute modern-day slaves, and anyone who aids this is aiding slavery. The world can see that the US is the biggest supporter of terrorism with what they've done in Syria, in Libya, to overthrow that country, and Cuba has done nothing.”
Ogbu agreed with the analysis, noting that hostility between the United States and the communist-ruled island goes back decades.
“Lawmakers and congressional members that already have a particular gripe against Cuba continue to put up these ridiculous bills through to Congress,” the activist claimed. “And it goes back to a lot of this anti-communist rhetoric and consciousness and thinking in this country that is so easy because we're so propagandized to just believe many of the lies about Cuba.”
“But as it relates to Haiti, Haiti is in a particular position where it has been fighting back for so long yet has been infiltrated at the same time and is going through such an incredible crisis in imperialism as well. So yes, for many of those reasons Cuba and Haiti are very similar, but Cuba has been able to withstand a lot of that pressure despite some of those embargo effects.”
Haiti held democratic elections in 1990 but the US opposed Haitians' choice of populist leaders who wanted to make Haiti more equitable.
In 2011 — following Haiti’s devastating earthquake the year prior — the US interfered in Haiti’s presidential election by accusing their preferred candidate Michel Martelly's opponents of fraud. The US then backed Martelly’s successor Jovenel Moïse until his assassination in 2021, after which they supported Ariel Henry, a chronically unpopular “acting” president.
Former US Representative Andy Levin writes that as the US supported Henry,
Haiti descended first into “kleptocracy, then into systematic gangsterization and lawlessness, and finally into complete chaos — until the whole house of cards came crashing down last month. As gangs united against the government and prevented Henry’s plane from landing at the Port-au-Prince airport, even the United States had to concede that its handpicked “leader” was no longer tenable."
The former US politician then described what a “real democracy” would look like — unsurprisingly, it resembles what US imperialists often lambast as "socialist propaganda."
“Real democracy in Haiti would mean the poor mass of Haitians who comprise the majority of the population would be in the driver’s seat, electing governments that carry out things they want — like much higher wages, universal free education, and infrastructure development that assists small agricultural producers.”
