The Eternal Scapegoat

The Eternal Scapegoat / Fernando Damaso
Posted on October 8, 2014

Every year around this time, Cuban authorities put together a report on
the damage caused by the "blockade" (in reality an embargo), which this
year it will present to the United Nations in October. To this end,
state agencies and institutions report losses they have suffered during
a period from 2013 to 2014, using statistics to emphasize the impact.

In addition to its actual impacts, the blockade is also blamed for all
mistakes, weaknesses, irresponsibility, lack of productivity, delays and
any other problems. It has become a kind of River Jordan, a place to
wash away all one's sins. These reports are like tropical hurricanes.
Every time these storms hit the island, they are blamed for any damages
suffered, from a sugar harvest which has already failed to a building
which has collapsed in advance of the atmospheric event.

If these reports are to be believed, the chaotic state of agricultural
and livestock production, the widespread lack of productivity, the
technological backwardness of what few industries we have, the housing
shortage, the disrepair of streets and sidewalks in our towns and
cities, the poor quality of education and health care, the lack of
internet access, low wages, unsanitary living conditions and many other
ills that beset us are due principally to the "blockade."

This blockade is more than fifty years old. What is striking is that
only in the last twenty or so years that it has been denounced at the
United Nations. Back when the former Soviet Union was subsidizing the
Cuban government, it did not seem to be a problem. It was even the
subject of jokes. It only became a problem once the subsidies ended and
we actually had to work.

For years efforts have been made to convince us that we are both
politically and economically independent. Why then this debilitating
interest in wanting to buy everything from the United States? Why not
purchase what we need in the Americas through Mexico, Argentina or
Brazil? Or in Europe through France, Italy and Russia. Or in Asia
through Japan, South Korea or China?

In truth the problem is not so much one of distance or of increased
costs but, as you might surmise, a lack of financial resources. In order
to be able to make purchases anywhere in the world, hard currency is
required. And hard currency can only be obtained through economic
production and export. Similarly, in order to obtain credit, you have to
fulfill certain requirements and then spend it as agreed. The era of
living off others is over. As the refrain of a popular song goes, "Work
that yucca, Taino!"

Similarly, the problem of the blockade will not be resolved through the
United Nations or a favorable vote by a majority of its member
countries, for whom it is a political ploy to stay on the good side of
the Cuban government. The solution will only come about when the
governments of Cuba and United States decide to reestablish normal
diplomatic relations. For this to happen, they must sit down and talk,
and to be willing to both give and take. Intransigence won't work here.
Anything else is simply propaganda and a waste of time.

30 September 2014

Source: The Eternal Scapegoat / Fernando Damaso | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/the-eternal-scapegoat-fernando-damaso/