On the screen of the neat and semi-deserted hall of the United Nations General Assembly, due to the pandemic, the result of the vote on the resolution presented by Cuba was projected, condemning the economic blockade that had been imposed for more than six decades by the United States: 184 in favor, two against and three abstentions.
Thus, the opportunity for the current U.S. Administration to prove its claims of reversing the policy of its predecessor concerning the Greater of the Antilles vanished. Right at the moment in which his representative before the international forum pressed the button, it became clear that at least for the moment, Joe Biden wants to leave things as they are, or rather, make them worse.
It is not even necessary to quote what was said by the Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez when, in the official presentation of the text, recalled that the electoral speech of the veteran politician born in the state of Pennsylvania until now was just that: words. It is enough to refer to what a group of non-governmental academic and lobbying organizations from the United States and other countries said 24 hours later about how that nation justified its reluctance to distance itself from a position that is not only unsuccessful but also in violation of all the principles of coexistence between States.
"This is a harrowing departure from then-candidate Joe Biden's commitment to reverse Trump's failed policies that inflicted harm on Cubans and their families," emphasized the text signed by the Center for Democracy in the Americas (CDA), the Cuban Americans for Engagement (CAFE), the Washington Office for Latin America (WOLA), the Medic Review magazine and the Oxfam international organization.
“US sanctions, they warned, primarily harm Cuban women and obstruct Cuba's ability to control COVID-19 and accelerate mass vaccination.
"Trying to cause hunger, especially during a pandemic, is unfair and immoral," they sentenced.
It was to be expected that something like this would happen, since the White House seems prey to its own pre-election fears and commitments, and not precisely those it did with its voters, but with those who are in the offices of the Capitol. Nothing until this June 23 presaged that Washington had the intention of sending a different message than the current one. Just placing a bland "pinch hitter" and not the incumbent Linda Thomas-Greenfield tells us that the Cuban question continues in this kind of cryogenics since the Trump era and that it delights the evil industry settled in the south of Florida.
Obviously, Biden does not want to upset, above all, Democratic Senator Bob Menéndez, who would be watching him closely and taking advantage of his key position within the congressional committees to ensure that, concerning Havana, the course of the actions stay in the current "autopilot" mode, in exchange for his help moving forward on internal issues that are a much higher priority for the Executive.
Doing so, however, the Cuban political scientist Jesús Arboleya recently warned, “it entails betraying other party groups that supported Biden, among other things, on the understanding that it would modify the policy towards Cuba, as he said during the electoral campaign. Around 500 Democratic activists have just reminded them by public letter, as did 80 congressmen, and other legal and political initiatives are already being appreciated.”
So an abstention vote that would appear to change nothing would have implied that there is a purpose to return to the path of negotiation and respect. Unfortunately, the Democratic Administration has preferred to continue with the face of ridicule, folly, even from the perspective of American pragmatism. Worse still, it continues on the path of perpetrating the crime of punishing an entire people, whose only wish is to remain free.
