Behind Obama's Change of Cuba Policy

[Judi Lynn]

Behind Obama's Change of Cuba Policy
Friday, 26 December 2014 13:33
By Jack A. Smith, SpeakOut | Op-Ed

"The United States seems destined to plague us with miseries in the name of liberty."-Simon Bolivar, the Liberator of Latin America

"Once the United States is in Cuba, who will get it out?"-José Martí, Cuban national hero.

Fair minded people and governments around the world have praised the US decision to finally ease up on Cuba after 55 years of unmitigated hostility. The final agreement, which included a prisoner swap, was hammered out in nine meetings over 18 months of secret talks in Canada between representatives of Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro, with the Vatican acting as intermediary.

But what is the true meaning of President Obama's historic announcement Dec. 17 about establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba and eliminating some — though hardly all — the diverse punishments imposed upon this small socialist society a stone's throw away from the vengeful Yankee Colossus?

It means that efforts to destroy the communist government of Cuba — from a CIA invasion to the imposition of seemingly endless draconian economic and political sanctions — have failed. In this David-Goliath contest, David was seriously wounded, but won. However, there is a second round to this competition that will likewise test David's powers.

Obama's policy change does not signify Washington accepts the existence of socialist or communist governments in Latin America and the Caribbean. They remain forbidden in the hemisphere presided over by the world's richest and most militarily powerful capitalist state. Washington's continual effort to undermine Venezuela's momentum toward socialism is one more evidence of this fact.

More:
http://www.truth-out.org/speakout/item/28225-behind-obama-s-change-of-cuba-policy