The world will once again demand an end to the blockade against Cuba. And Brazil?

By Tereza Cruvinel - For over 60 years, the United States has imposed a commercial, economic, and financial blockade on Cuba which, although it has not achieved the goal of overthrowing the island's socialist regime, brings enormous costs and suffering to Cubans, with deprivation of food, medicine, fuel, and equipment.

For the 30th time, the Cuban government will present a motion to the UN General Assembly on November 1st and 2nd, calling for an end to this veritable economic war, which is accompanied by a global smear campaign that, as we have seen, is being replicated in Brazil by Bolsonaro's supporters.

The motion has no coercive power against the United States, but it has received the support of an absolute majority of countries every year. Invariably, only the United States and Israel vote against it. For the first time, in 2020, Brazil followed suit, contradicting the historical lines of Brazilian diplomacy, of non-interference in foreign policy and respect for the self-determination of peoples. The terrible repercussions led to abstention last year. In next week's vote, Lula is likely to be the president-elect of Brazil, but the Bolsonaro government may repeat the shameful vote of 2020, or even the cowardly omission of last year.

The consequences of the blockade are poorly understood in Brazil, where Bolsonaro's supporters have revived anti-communism and the demonization of Cuba and left-wing governments in general. One of Bolsonaro's campaign mantras is that, under Lula, Brazilians will suffer what Cubans and Venezuelans suffer.

Despite the harmful effects of the blockade – which affects not only US trade relations with Cuba but also those of other countries with the Caribbean island – the Cuban socialist regime has resisted for six decades, guaranteeing remarkable progress for its people. But the costs have been enormous. According to Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, in his report to the UN, in the first 14 months of the Biden administration alone (which maintained the additional restrictions imposed by Trump), the blockade caused losses of US$6,364 billion. Over six decades, this would amount to US$147 billion.

The blockade began in 1961 when President Kennedy banned all imports of Cuban origin. The following year, the restrictions expanded, becoming law. In 1992, the blockade was imposed on third countries where subsidiaries of American multinationals exist, and merchant ships were prohibited from trading with Cuba. In 1996, the Helms-Burton Act completed the economic squeeze. From 2000 onwards, even tourist travel by US citizens to the island was prohibited, in order to cut off one of the Cuban government's sources of foreign exchange.

Trump reversed course by another 243 measures. Cruises and flights to Cuba (except to Havana) were banned, as were banking operations. Consular offices were closed, and companies that sold fuel and other essential goods to Cuba were targeted. The country was placed on an arbitrary list of state sponsors of terrorism, which further increased restrictions.

To escape the blockade, Cuba is forced to resort to intermediaries in its imports or exports, which implies a large increase in costs with freight, insurance and fees imposed by banks.

The objective is clear: to stifle the island's economy with deprivations of all kinds, creating popular dissatisfaction and undermining support for the Cuban Revolution of 1959. It is to obtain the surrender or overthrow of the regime by generating hunger and suffering for Cubans.

The approval of the new motion at the UN, condemning this humanitarian and economic crime, will not end the embargo, but it will be an important diplomatic victory for Cuba. Brazil will still be governed by Bolsonaro, but Brazilian diplomacy should have enough integrity to vote alongside the nations that are calling for an end to this criminal policy against the Cuban people.

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