AGAINST CUBA
Meeting in the shadow of the White House in Washington, D,C., the Organization of American States [OAS] voted harsh new sanctions July 26 against revolutionary Cuba under pretext of "punishing" the Castro government for inspiring “subversive activities" in other Latin~American countries. The vote was fifteen for, four against -- Mexico, Chile, Uruguay, and Bolivia. (In a preliminary test vote, Bolivia abstained,) The measures virtually order all Latin-American countries to end all further resistance to following the example of the United States in breaking off diplomatic and trade relations with Cuba, as well as/all sea and air traffic. Exceptions -- for the time being ~- were made for pharmaceutical products and foods required for "humanitarian" reasons, and the thin Havana-Mexico City air link, The measures also threaten tiny Cuba with armed assault if the “subversive activities" continue. OS
No deadline for compliance was placed on the four governments that displayed reluctance to participate in this shameful public display of servility to the imperialist overlord who rules the Western Hemisphere from his nuclear bastion north of the Rio Grande. The OAS Charter, however, makes compliance obligatory if a resolution is ‘passed by a two-thirds vote. A government can drop out of the organization; but it would then meet with savage reprisals from Washington.
The Paz Estenssoro government, which has been reduced to almost puppet status in Bolivia, announced that it would abide with the dictate, It is generally supposed that Uruguay will follow suit. Chile's decision hinges on the outcome of the September elections, If an "anti-Communist" regime wins the vote or seizes power, in oonsonance with Washington's policy, one of the first consequences will be rupture of relations with Cuba. As for Mexico, it seems that the new president-elect will defy Mexican public opinion out of deference to the wishes of Yankee imperialism when he assumes office in Novem ber and break off relations with Cuba,
This would mean that Cuba would be encircled by a cordon san~ itaire of hostile Latin-American governments such as faced the Soviet Union in its early years after the October 1917 Revolution.
The sanctions were the result of a long campaign conducted by U.S. diplomats, military representatives and spokesmen of big business, The direct agent in the operation was the reactionary Venezuelan government, whose former foreign minister toured all Latin-American capitals in a relentless campaign to line up support behind Washington in its drive against the Cuban Revolution,
In some of the most important Latin-American countries, where the "national bourgeoisie" shares power with the landholding oligarchs, the campaign met with considerable resistance over the years, They sought to maintain at least normal diplomatic relations with the
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Castro government in order to strengthen the appearance of maintaining a stance of independence in relation to the Yankee colossus and — also as a bargaining point. This was especially true of Argentina, — Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Uruguay. The North American imperialists worked’ away - persistently to undermine and erode this position, The big turning point came in April with the counterrevolutionary coup d'état oarried out in Brazil in April with the blessing and connivance of the Johnson administration, One of the reasons which led the White House to decide to bring down the Goulart government was precisely its maintenance of normal diplomatic relations with Cuba3 and one of the first fruits of Wall Street's victory in Brazil was the rupture of diplomatic relations with Cuba ordered by strong man Castello Branoo,
The temporary defeat suffered in Brazil by the Latin-American revolution thus had grave immediate consequences for the Cuban Revolution, a fact that was appreciated perhaps most keenly by the Castro government which has repeatedly shown how well it understands that the final destiny of the Cuban Revolution is intimately linked with the fate of the revolution in the rest of Latin America,
Up to now the government of Fidel Castro has consistently pointed out that with its meager resources it was ridiculous to accuse it of seeking to "export" revolution through material aid to revolutionary movements in Latin America, This is readily apparent, since Cuba could not hope to compete with the United States whose export of material aid to counterrevolutions throughout the world runs into billions of dollars each year, The Cubans, consequently, have constantly stressed that the primary importance of Cuba is the inspiration it offers to the rest of Latin America as an example of how to overthrow dictatorships like the one headed by Batista and how to overcome the worst economic and social evils besetting the peasants and workers by taking the road to socialism, The very existence of the Cuban workers state is a constant reminder that "it can be done." This is what American imperialism has determined to bring to ruin or to smash outright.
Fresh confirmation of this analysis came immediately after the OAS meeting. from no less an authoritative source than the New York Times which declared editorially [July 28 international edition]:
"The real issue in the much-feared subversion by Marxist~ Leninist Cuba of Latin America is not a physical one, Premier: Castro is not in a position to arm any Latin-American opposition effectively even if he wanted to, ..
"The 26th of July celebrations underline Dr. Castro's effectiveness as a subversive agent. It is the fact that he and his regime survive after more than five and a half years of turmoil, economic collapse, the exodus of’a great number.of middle-class and professional elements, and after everything that the United States
could do to him short of a military invasion, which gives him his greatest impact on Latin America, So long as he remains a towering figure on the hemispheric scene -- hated, feared and despised by many, loved and admired by some -- he will be a grave danger to Latin Amerioa and, because of his connections with Russia, to the United States,"
The sinister aims of the U,S.State Department in relation to Cuba were clearly apparent in the violent speech delivered by Seoretary of State Dean Rusk on July 22, exactly one week after the nomination of Goldwater and the day following the opening of the OAS meeting. The Paris Le Monde [July 24] noted that Rusk's speech followed the line of Goldwater's position on Cuba, This position, however, happens to be indistinguishable from the one being applied by Johnson's appointee Thomas C, Mann, Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs. The nomination of Goldwater has, however, made it easier for the Johnson administration to drop more of the . talk about democracy and reform in Latin America and to reveal more nakedly its real course which is counterrevolutionary to the core,
WHAT CASTRO