Has U.S. Policy Toward Cuba Really Changed?
Has U.S. Policy Toward Cuba Really Changed?
Despite its improving relations with Havana, Washington's ultimate goal for the island remains regime change.
By Netfa Freeman, July 7, 2015.
The announcement that the United States and Cuba would reopen their embassies in each other’s countries came just as the United States was preparing to celebrate its independence. But despite the welcome news, Washington has yet to properly recognize Cuba’s own right to sovereignty and independence.
One need only listen closely to the announcement made by U.S. President Barack Obama — which was couched in language about “promoting change” on the island — to realize that while the strategy of undermining Cuba’s sovereign right to national self-determination has changed, the goal remains the same: regime change.
According to both Cuban and U.S. authorities, having full diplomatic missions in Havana and Washington is only one step in the much longer and more complex process of normalizing diplomatic relations. But can such normalization take place while U.S. pronouncements condescendingly focus on “helping the Cuban people,” with nothing about how the rapprochement might assist in transforming the United States?
Like any country, Cuba has its problems. But the United States suffers from extreme social and political ills that are alien to revolutionary Cuba, including an epidemic of police brutality and racist extrajudicial killings; exorbitant incarceration and capital punishment rates, especially for people of color; a lack of universal healthcare and pre-K-to-university education, which is completely unwarranted given the country’s wealth; an insensitivity to urban displacement and unemployment rates; militarily aggressive foreign policies; and hyper-deference to the interest of corporations — as seen now in the fast tracking of the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
More:
http://fpif.org/has-u-s-policy-toward-cuba-really-changed/