At the last meeting of the UN General Assembly, as in the previous twenty, the Government of Cuba presented its usual complaint against the blockade (embargo actually), that the government of the United States applies to it, and also, as in the previous twenty, the voting favored Cuba. These votes in the General Assembly passed without pain or glory: as they are not binding, no one pays attention to them and they are forgotten until the next meeting. So with all countries, including Cuba.
In order to matter, the charges must be presented and discussed in the Security Council, where the resolutions adopted are binding and therefore require applying different types of measures. Clearly, here things are not so easy.
So why all the fuss? Starting weeks before the vote, the government of Cuba sparked an intense media campaign, both nationally and internationally, including television spots, opinion columns, public events, statements of effects on the economy and services, valued in pesos and dollars, in addition to the gigantic figures, clearly unpayable, that the government of the United States demands as compensation for all our supposed seizures, and even the encouragement of (in line with the Pan American Games) a fictional boxing match between the government of Cuba and the United States, where, as expected, the first knockout wins.
I noticed also the statement of the administration of a bicycle factory (actually a simply where bikes are assembled) in Santa Clara, noting that the import component of the People’s Republic of China and not of United States, difficult and more expensive to produce.
Why don’t we import from Mexico, Venezuela, Panama and Canada, countries as close as the United States? It seems that, rather than distances, the problem is lack of financial resources and credit, the result of not fulfilling our commitments — that is paying our bills. After the vote, the campaign grew, now with the statements of the victors. As this gives leads to no concrete steps, I think their goal is entertainment to keep gaining time, waiting for a miracle.
The solution of the dispute between the government of the United States (eleven different administrations) and Cuba (a single administration with two faces), which has never been nor is a dispute between two peoples, united by historical, cultural, geographical and even economic (what are they but remittances?), bypasses the UN, through the two governments.
They should discuss and resolve it. To achieve this it is essential to abandon the obsolete political and ideological entrenchments, mutual respect, be pragmatic and make way for tolerance. While this does not happen and they continue adding fuel to the fire, repeat their complaints and vote over and over at the UN, there will be new media campaigns, all will vote for one or the other, time will be lost and nothing will change or be resolved.
October 29 2011
