WASHINGTON, DC, July 22 — New players have emerged as Cuban freedom fighters continue to resist their communist suppressors. The Chinese Communist Party [CCP], its lackeys in North Korea, the Red regime in Venezuela, even the Russians and the Iranians have chimed in, declaring solidarity with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel.
So far, their support is of the verbal kind, but as tensions mount, it is difficult to foresee whether they will evolve into an active confrontation with the U.S. Their gripe: President Biden promised to lift America’s embargo on Cuba, but after six months of being in office he seems reluctant to do so. He and his party have a big stake in keeping the embargo in place. During his campaign, Biden promised he would do just that, but he may be having second thoughts considering the negative political impact it could have for the Democrats going forward.
An analysis by CNN explains that: “Part of the problem is that Cuba has become so politicized, especially in the key swing state of Florida, where many exiles live, that it’s all but impossible to have a dispassionate discussion about what the U.S. approach should be. Key players in the debate who oppose another opening, like Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Robert Menendez – a New Jersey Democrat – and Sunshine State Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, have deep familial ties to the island and antipathy to its communist heritage. And the past affinity of some liberals to the Castros, not to mention the left-wing strongmen in Venezuela, has fueled GOP claims that Democrats are “socialists” – a politically potent insult in much of the U.S.”
But even if lifting the embargo can help stabilize the uprising in Cuba for the time being, it is not likely to silence the protestors.
PBS interviewed some of the players in the drama that is the new Cuban uprising. They seemed determined. One of them, Pedro Del Cueto, said what’s happening in Cuba is about “Homeland and life. Down with the dictatorship. Down with the Castros. Down with the communist dogs.” Another Cuban patriot said, “We are here because of the repression against the people.
They are starving us to death. We have no house. We have nothing. But they have money to build hotels.”
The Russians, when the USSR was still in existence, nurtured, protected, and abused its relationship with Fidel Castro. Remember the Cuban Missile Crisis. When the Soviet Empire was disbanded, the relationship was severed, and the Communist Chinese stepped in. “Following the fall of the Soviet Union and the dramatic withdrawal of Soviet subsidies for Cuba, China strengthened its relationship somewhat by stepping into the breach,” Evan Ellis at the U.S. Army War College told Newsweek in a recent interview.
As for Russia, the Putin regime has managed to maintain its relations with Cuba directly and indirectly through the communist regime in Venezuela. It’s all about oil and disdain for the U.S. They are considered to be trading and military allies.
As for Iran, perhaps they are speaking up just to complain about the U.S. The Iranian Foreign Ministry put it this way: “As a country facing illegal and cruel sanctions of the US, Iran expresses its solidarity with the Cuban people and government and calls for an immediate end to the U.S. unilateral sanctions against Cuba.”
And, the North Koreans expressed their support for the Cuban commies with a statement expressing “full support to and solidarity with all efforts and measures taken by the government and people of Cuba for safeguarding the dignity and sovereignty of the country and defending to the end their fatherland, revolution and gains of socialism.”
The rhetoric is not threatening enough to envision escalation; it’s most likely that Mr. Biden will not see an updated replay of the missile crisis. Jack Kennedy dealt with the Ruskies toe-to-toe in a dramatic staring contest that rattled Khrushchev. The Soviet premier reexamined his position and retreated, taking his threatening missiles with him.
What would Joe Biden do in a situation like that?