Latin America and Caribbean resurgent leftists condemn U.S. policy on Cuba

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The U.S. government doubled down on its hardline policy and sanctions on Cuba after historic protests on the communist-ruled island last month, and announced that it will seek to support the protesters.

Many Latin American and Caribbean nations, a region marked by U.S.-backed coups during the Cold War and which has been shifting toward the left in recent years, are calling for the opposite policy.

U.S. President Joe Biden referred to Cuba as a “failed state” after protests on July 11 and 12 over the economic crisis and restrictions on freedoms.

His administration imposed new sanctions on those who repressed protesters and promised the important Cuban-American community that more measures would be taken, including initiatives to help Cubans circumvent “censorship.”

While the new sanctions are largely symbolic, they suggest that a return to a period of understanding, which briefly occurred under ex-president Barack Obama, is not in the cards.

The right-wing governments of Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Honduras joined the United States last week in issuing a statement condemning the mass arrests in Cuba and calling for the full restoration of disrupted Internet access.

But only 20 foreign ministers from around the world attended the ceremonial signing of the letter, signaling how relatively isolated the U.S. government is on its foreign policy toward Cuba, analysts said.

Even U.S. allies such as Canada, which have condemned the Cuban government’s repression and spoken out for the right to free speech, did not sign the document.

Meanwhile, Cuba’s leftist allies in Latin America and other Caribbean countries have focused their reactions on the contribution of the U.S. embargo to the country’s current humanitarian crisis, demanding that Washington suspend sanctions. Mexico, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Bolivia have sent aid to Cubans.

Some countries in the region have also cautioned against U.S. interference in Cuba’s internal affairs.

The regional splits came to light last week, when the Organization of American States (OAS) had to postpone a meeting on the human rights situation in Cuba because of the opposing positions of over a dozen member states.

“Any discussion can only satisfy political hawks eyeing the 2022 U.S. mid-term congressional elections, in which a victory in South Florida with the support of Cuban exiles would be a prize,” wrote Antigua and Barbuda’s ambassador to the OAS Ronald Sanders in a column published on digital platform Caribbean News Global.

“The duty of the OAS should be to promote peaceful and cooperative relations in the hemisphere, rather than to fuel division and conflict.”

He had sent a letter on behalf of the 13 countries of the Caribbean Community, or CARICOM, – which, though small, represents a significant bloc in the OAS – calling for the body to reassess the “unproductive” meeting, while other countries issued similar notes.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said last month that the OAS should be replaced “by a truly autonomous entity, and one that is nobody’s lackey,” a sentiment echoed by Argentine President Alberto Fernández.

López Obrador also said Biden needs to make a decision on the embargo against Cuba, since “virtually every country in the world” is opposed to it, while Fernández said no other country should decide what Cubans do.