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CAPITALISM OF CULTURE - EMBARGO CUBA!

The ebb and flow of Saturday afternoon human traffic hurries through sparse rain: barging, browsing and buying with conscience free grins and care-free pockets. How much money people have and how little I have is a recurring observation of mine and those grins and designer shopping bags are starting to rub. The eternally defiant image of Che Guevara is flying proudly above a stall decorated in blue and white and organised with literature about Rock Around The Blockade, an organisation committed to ‘fighting global capitalism, building socialism’. RATB are in Liverpool to raise awareness on the US blockade of Cuba, US expulsion from Guantanamo Bay, Latin American solidarity, Free the Cuban Five and a boycott of Bacardi.

I met Robert, an RATB member, who was quick to make it clear to me his devotion to his way of life stating, ‘I am a socialist, I am a communist’ as we discussed the political climate in Britain and casualty of capitalism, the NHS. We discussed the ‘post code lottery’ and my own experience of failure by a system crippled by policies of politicians whose regressive thinking champions the class divide and has ignited a financial and social meltdown. Yes, the meltdown has begun, Doomsday looms, is that the sound of horsemen? Maybe: Newspapers inform us with sobering articles of banks gone bust a la Northern Rock and Bradford and Bingley and splatter the bloody evidence daily with every report of a knife crime murder.

Socialism is a movement for and about the people, its ideology is progress, stability and, most importantly, building a nation with the ability to sustain itself economically whilst balancing and distributing its wealth equally.

The other campaigners took donations from shoppers who signed a petition to end the US blockade. Robert and his comrades’ clipboards were pages thick, the top sheets three quarters full of names proving there is no question of public disgust at America’s deformation of Cuba. But is a list of names enough to end the sanctions on Cuba?

“No. They are useful however, as a means of getting to talk to people, because some people automatically sign a petition to express a political opinion. For people who don’t know much about it, it serves as a starting point for a conversation about the nature of Cuba and the likes of Guantanamo Bay and the fact it is illegally occupied by the United States. So, it’s just one way amongst others of trying to engage with people and to get those who want to do something to join us.”

Cuba still regards itself as in the ’special period’ which started when its economy imploded following the collapse of the Soviet Union, and with it, over 80% of Cuba’s trade. The early years of this period in Cuba were ones of immense hardship, but since the late Nineties there has been a steady economic recovery, with substantial growth mainly due to a burgeoning tourist trade. Recently, there has been strong economic co-operation with Venezuala whih has led to major improvements in power generation, crucial for further development.

At a showing of a 1968 film by Saul Landau which follows Fidel Castro around Cuba, I asked Robert how the Cubans would react to US involvement if the blockade were to be lifted:

“I think the Cubans would judge every aspect of US involvement on its merits. There is no question that if Cuba is going to sustain its healthcare system then it needs access to drugs and medical supplies that are manufactured by U.S companies. Given the importance of trade, Cuba would need access to companies that trade with America and globally. If the blockade were lifted tomorrow, which is very unlikely, then I’m sure Cuba would treat each question of how it related to the United States on its merits, that is, from the standpoint of does it enable the Cuban socialism to move forward.” Robert added, “If the US did lift the blockade it would be to find an alternative way of undermining Socialism in Cuba. One that is projected, particularly by countries in the EU, that actually rather than to isolate Cuba the best way to undermine Socialism is in fact to incorporate it into the world market, to trade with it and have a positive engagement with it.”

For the 16th consecutive year the UN has voted for an end to the blockade. Regardless of this, the US continues the embargo on Cuba. The US, Israel and two-minute islands bought by the US are the only countries that are pro-blockade. The embargo is a monstrous action, one of greedy lunacy. ‘Dubya’ Bush is a real life Blofeld from James Bond, determined to take over the world and a murderer of anyone who gets in his way. His administration (SPECTRE) will “retaliate” if anyone does business with Cuba. This causes vast suffering, particularly in healthcare as vital ingredients for medicines are sometimes solely made in the US, and therefore cannot be sold to Cuba without great difficulty. The extent of the blockade goes from tyrannical to ridiculous: the US owned Hilton Hotels have banned bookings from Cubans.

The US has always been brutal in its treatment of Socialist and Communist states and has removed Socialism from countries using brute force disguised and buried under freedom and democracy: In Chile, General Augustus Pinochet, with backing from the CIA and the American government, tortured and murdered over 3,000 people for “political reasons” to build an American controlled economy and democracy.

In1963, John F Kennedy said, “And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.” President Kennedy may, had he not been assassinated, have ended the hostility toward Cuba. His murder represents the true America - an America that strives for imperialist power and fiercely ostracises solidarity and diversity.

For more information on meetings and actions of the RATB, phone: 020 7837 1688

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