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Protests Erupt in Cuba

The Blockade

I like how, in that fantasy world, the US embargo on Cuba is a literal blockade that prevents Cuba from trading with anyone else either. I wouldn't be surprised if half the votes in the UN came from delegates who assume there really is a literal blockade.


It may not be a "blockade in a technical or formal sense," but it is actually "a literal blockade that prevents Cuba from trading" with many companies, even companies in foreign countries, by fining them if they do. The UN delegates aren't ignorant about the blockade, but this time I'll forgive you for not knowing about what the blockade is. It's not something the media tells you about - the same way mainstream media also often 'forgets' to tell you about the UN General Assembly's annual condemnation of the blockade.

However, there's a Wikipedia page about El bloqueo. It is far from perfect and leaves out many things, for instance this, at first sight, pretty innocuous example:
Nestled in his bedroom studio under vinyl records and a cluster of microphones, DJ Milano makes electronic music that combines traditional Cuban sounds with modern beats. It is a tortuous process.
“We can’t use certain applications because they are blocked,” said DJ Milano, 33, who hasn’t been able to update Rekordbox, the platform he needs to mix samples, as he can’t get a protected virtual network for his Mac computer. “I have no way of buying it — I have the money in my bank, but you can’t use Cuban bank cards to buy online.”
(...)
Log in to PayPal in Cuba and you’re greeted with this message: “Access Denied.” On Amazon: “Unable to process this order.” Try downloading an app on the Apple App Store: “unavailable in the country or region you are in.”
Sixty years after U.S. embargo, its imprint affects Cubans' daily lives (NBC News, Feb 4, 2022)


From the same article - and with a link to another NBC article:
Although the U.S. can export food and medicine to Cuba under the embargo, the laws significantly limit the amount of goods that can be sent, even from third countries.


From the linked article:
Over the years, the U.S. has added more laws on the embargo, making it harsher — while also creating more exceptions. It’s now a complex set of laws with many layers.
(...)
The embargo does not prevent other countries from trading with Cuba, but (!!!) if a product contains 10 percent of American-created content, then it must get a license from the U.S. to be exported to Cuba.
“When you take global supply chains into consideration, that significantly limits the amount of products that can be exported to Cuba, even from third countries,” said Ric Herrero, executive director of the pro-engagement Cuba Study Group.
Cuba says the U.S. embargo is 'genocidal.' What does it really do? (NBC News, Aug 22, 2021)
And America-created isn't merely 'Made in the USA'. It is any American company abroad as well. When a Danish company manufacturing medical apparatus was bought by Americans, for instance, Cuba could no longer buy the fluid from the company that it needed for running the apparatus (for blood analysis, if I remember correctly).

Add to that the problem with international transfer of money mentioned above and in this example from the first NBC article:
A functionary said in an interview on condition of anonymity for security reasons that because of the difficulty of making wire transfers from the island, he has flown many times to Canada, his suitcase flush with millions of dollars, to purchase oncological medical equipment.
(...)
While Cuba has long been forbidden to use U.S. dollars, in the past customers and suppliers could find workarounds. But the advances in computing and a tightening of anti-money-laundering efforts over the last 15 years have put an end to Cuba’s ability to use dollars, as well as euros.
(...)
Sources say that following stiff fines in U.S. courts over the last decade, the pool of banks in Europe prepared to receive wire transfers from Cuban banks has shrunk. That in turn has raised costs and reduced the range of clients and suppliers the island can do business with.

$8.9 billion for violating sanctions against Sudan, Cuba and Iran! It makes a company think twice before trading anything at all with Cuba. Why risk violating such sanctions that companies may not even be aware of? Is it worth the risk of inadvertently violating some obscure sanction? Is it worth hiring a lawyer specializing in this to find out?
Other examples, big and small:
Travel Services Provider Fined $5.9 Million for Cuba Sanctions Violations (WSJ, Oct 1, 2020)
U.S. judge orders Norwegian Cruise Line to pay $110 million for use of Cuba port (Reuters, Dec 31, 2022)
Expedia Fined $325,000 for Breaching Travel Sanctions to Cuba (Time, June 14, 2019)

You probably believed it yourself when you wrote that nothing "prevents Cuba from trading with anyone else," which was what made you think that the blockade was only figurative. It isn't, and it does prevent Cuba from trading with many countries, which is why so many countries vote against the blockade in the UN General Assembly every year.

But why don't you go see for yourself? Norah Jones seems to have found a loophole in the travel restrictions:
Norah Jones Announces Educational Visit and Concerts in Cuba (Norah Jones, Nov 7, 2023)


ETA: You can call it an embargo instead of a blockade. I don't care. A turd by any other name ...
 
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More Blockade

I like how, in that fantasy world, the US embargo on Cuba is a literal blockade that prevents Cuba from trading with anyone else either. I wouldn't be surprised if half the votes in the UN came from delegates who assume there really is a literal blockade.


Belly of The Beast is a media outlet that counters parachute journalism by providing stories directly from the island.
The documentary series, The War on Cuba, gives an inside look on the effects of U.S. sanctions on Cuban people.
The War on Cuba — Episode 1 (Belly of The Beast Cuba on YouTube, Oct 9, 2020 - 12:42)

One example mentioned in the video: Two companies in Switzerland refused to sell medical ventilators to Cuba - during the ******* PANDEMIC!!! - because they were subsidiaries of a U.S. company! "And a U.S. airline wouldn't take a donation of masks and ventilators to Cuba.

And as I have shown in this thread, it only got worse in 2021 when the Delta variant hit almost-entirely-unvaccinated Cuba and for a couple of months (to be exact: June 15 to Sep 24) made Cuba's number of confirmed COVID-19 deaths per million people surpass USA's.


By the way, if anybody is wondering why I stopped posting the U.S. and Cuban SARS-CoV-2 numbers every month, it's because the USA along with many other countries first reduced testing and then stopped reporting the number of confirmed cases entirely, so it made no sense to continue.


A YouTube short:
187 to 2: The World Condemns Embargo on Cuba
 
I like how, in that fantasy world, the US embargo on Cuba is a literal blockade that prevents Cuba from trading with anyone else either. I wouldn't be surprised if half the votes in the UN came from delegates who assume there really is a literal blockade.


As for theprestige's "fantasy world":
An international tribunal that for two days analyzed the U.S. blockade against Cuba ruled today in Brussels that this policy violates international law and universal norms for peaceful coexistence.

Brussels, November 17 (RHC)-- An international tribunal that for two days analyzed the U.S. blockade against Cuba ruled today in Brussels that this policy violates international law and universal norms for peaceful coexistence.
It also stressed that the economic, commercial and financial siege imposed by Washington violates the UN Charter, which enshrines the sovereignty of countries, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and agreements of the World Trade Organization, among other norms.
Court rules that blockade of Cuba violates international law (Granma.cu, Nov 17, 2023)

The International Tribunal on the US sanctions against the Republic of Cuba pronounces the following judgment
The extensive political and economic sanctions imposed on the Republic of Cuba since 1960
up to date violate international law. These include, above all, Articles 2(4) and 2(7) of the UN
Charter on the protection of sovereignty, self-determination and the prohibition of
intervention, the articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) of 1948 and
the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) of 1966, as well
as the provisions of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on the protection of freedom of
trade and numerous principles of the Treaty on European Union (TEU, Maastricht Treaty).
The International Tribunal on the US sanctions against the Republic of Cuba (CubaInformacion, Brussels, 17 November 2023)


Streamed live:
International Tribunal on the Blockade of Cuba in Brussels, Nov. 16-17 - Part 1, Thursday, Nov 16 16
(The Left in the European Parliament on YouTube, Nov 16, 2023 - 3:03:57)

International Tribunal on the Blockade of Cuba in Brussels, Nov. 16-17 - Part 2, Thursday, Nov 16
(The Left in the European Parliament on YouTube, Nov 16, 2023 - 3:38:12)

International Tribunal on the Blockade of Cuba in Brussels, Nov. 16-17 - Part 3, Friday, Nov 17
(The Left in the European Parliament on YouTube, Nov 17, 2023 - 2:58:24)
 
Not exactly the Bay of Pigs Invasion, but still ...

Cuba thwarts terrorist plot by South Florida man who arrived by jetski, state-run media says (Reuters, Dec 10, 2023)

According to information published on Saturday by Noticiero Nacional de Televisión, thanks to timely denunciations and the rapid intervention of forces of the Ministry of the Interior, a Cuban resident in the U.S., who intended to carry out part of macabre plans conceived in South Florida, was captured.
The exhaustive investigation underway has revealed that the terrorist arrived at the northern coast of Matanzas aboard a jet ski equipped with means that ensure its navigability. The individual, equipped, among other things, with pistols, magazines and ammunition, went to Cienfuegos, his province of origin, and contacted several people in order to recruit them
Cuba foils destabilizing plans of terrorists based in the United States (Granma.cu, Dec 11, 2023)
 
In post 237, I mentioned an article about Russian attempts to recruit Cubans to fight on Russia's side in Ukraine.

In a recent interview on CBS News, Cuba's Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossíowas was asked about this:
Top Cuban diplomat weighs in on immigration, Havana Syndrome and more (CBS News, April 18, 2024 - 26:18 min.) The segment about Cubans recruited by Russia begins at 22:16.

After that, the deputy foreign minister is asked about an alleged Chinese spy base in Cuba, which was reported by WSJ and other mainstream media last year.
However,
The White House pushed back on a report that the Chinese government cut a deal with Cuba to set up a spy base on the island that would target US military bases and communications.
White House Denies Report That China Is Building a Spy Base on Cuba (Bloomberg, June 8, 2023)
“We have seen the report. It's not accurate," John Kirby, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, told Reuters. But he did not specify what he thought was incorrect.
He said the United States has had "real concerns" about China’s relationship with Cuba and was closely monitoring it.
Brigadier General Patrick Ryder, a U.S. Defense Department spokesperson, said: "We are not aware of China and Cuba developing a new type of spy station."
In Havana, Cuban Vice Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio dismissed the report as "totally mendacious and unfounded," calling it a U.S. fabrication meant to justify Washington's decades-old economic embargo against the island. He said Cuba rejects all foreign military presence in Latin America and the Caribbean.
China to build spy base in Cuba, WSJ says; US and Cuba cast doubt on report[/url] (Reuters, June 9, 2023)
It is amazing to see Cuba and the USA agree on the non-existence of both a Chinese spy station and foreign adversaries attacking the brains of U.S. diplomats and spies with directed-energy weapons.
 
Blinken says there are no plans to remove Cuba from list of sponsors of terrorism (OnCubaNews, Mar 28, 2023)

Bill that would prevent U.S. president from removing Cuba from list of sponsors of terrorism gets support (OnCubaNews, Mar 30, 2023)

Cuba and the United States this Thursday and Friday held in Havana a technical exchange on cooperation to combat terrorism, reported the Cuban Ministry of the Interior (MININT).
Authorities from both governments discussed the hijacking of aircraft and maritime vessels, as well as the use of digital media for violent purposes, according to a press release published this Friday on MININT’s official website.
“Both parties agreed on the importance of cooperation in this sphere, and agreed to continue technical meetings in the future,” it said.
Likewise, it regretted that the administration in Washington accuses Cuba in an “arbitrary and unjustified” manner of being a “sponsor of terrorism” and considered that carrying out this exchange “is an expression of the commitment of the Cuban government in the fight against this scourge, and of the commitment to take all necessary steps to combat its perpetrators.”
Cuba and U.S. exchange information to cooperate against terrorism (OnCubaNews, April 30, 2023)


It does look weird, doesn't it?!


I guess "tepid" change is better than no change, in this case:
The decision marks a tepid if symbolically important move on behalf of the Biden administration, which until now has largely maintained Trump-era restrictions on the Communist-run island.
The cooperation against terrorism list, which the State Department is required by law to provide the U.S. Congress, is not the same as the State Sponsors of Terrorism list, according to the department official.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump separately designated Cuba a state sponsor of terrorism just prior to leaving office, a jab that Cuba maintains has contributed to a severe economic crisis on the island, and to shortages of food, fuel and medicine.
US removes Cuba from list of countries not cooperating fully against terrorism (Reuters, May 15, 2024)
 
CNN's Patrick Oppmann reports on Russian warships and a nuclear-powered submarine visiting Cuba. Cuban officials say these Russian warships do not carry nuclear warheads and are there for peaceful purposes.
Russian warships including nuclear sub arrive in Cuba (CNN on YouTube, June 12, 2024 - 8:21 min.)

it wasn't that long ago, of course, that the Soviet Union was supplying Cuba with everything they needed here. And the economy was doing much, much better as a result.
We have seen some of that come back over the last few years with the war in Ukraine, where Vladimir Putin, in exchange for Cuban support in that war, has sent more oil here, more food.
There are a lot more Russian tourists here these days. And that is helping Cuba as the economy is really in some of the worst the worst stage that it has been in decades. Literallly, Russian oil in many instances is keeping the lights on when they are on here, because for much of the time there are nationwide blackouts taking place.
So Cuba has increasingly voiced its support for Vladimir Putin, the invasion in Ukraine and Vladimir Putin has returned the favor.
(...)
And you hear Russian officials saying that they want to invest more in Cuba, that they want to help the Cuban economy grow.
But they also sometimes lament that Cuba remains a communist-run state and Russia is not anymore.


True: The energy sector in Cuba is on its knees and Russia has sent some help, both oil, food and medical supplies. And not just Russia. Chinese solar panels are currently being installed in a couple of places in Cuba.
Not true: That it happens "in exchange for Cuban support in that war" in Ukraine. Cuba has condemned NATO's expansion in Eastern Europe, but it has also condemned attempts to recruit Cubans to participate in that war. See post 237.

I should also point out that at the same time Putin is sending this message with four ships in the Caribbean, the U.S. is participating in a much larger exercise at the same time in the Baltic Sea.
Pentagon tracks Russian fleet as it travels to Cuba (CBS News on YouTube, June 13, 2024 - 3:45 min.)
 
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Biden's policy against Cuba

When I was at a State Department press conference, I asked about the terrorism list and why Cuba is on it. The spokesperson refused to give specific examples of the supposed terrorism that justifies that designation, yet none of the other journalists did a follow-up on my question. How is it possible that you’re in a room full of journalists and not a single one wants to follow up on that?
(...)
It seems clear that Cuba is cooperating with the United States. Last year, I spoke with an American official with the US Coast Guard at a meeting between the US and Cuban Coast Guards held in Holguin. They have been cooperating for years now against narcotrafficking and terrorism. If you review the State Department documents, they talk about how useful the Cuban government is in their mission to stop drug trafficking, human trafficking, and even in counterterrorism. The US Coast Guard can just call the Cuban Coast Guard to alert them to a drug shipment and the Cuban Coast Guard will intervene, essentially acting on US national security interests.
Challenging Biden’s Cuba Policy From the Belly of the Beast (Jacobin, May 30, 2024)


Trailers for the two new YouTube videos from Belly of the Beast. The first one, Uphill on the Hill, is about "why Joe Biden has embraced Donald Trump’s Cold War-era policy toward Cuba, devastating the island’s economy and fueling unprecedented migration to the U.S. border with Mexico":

Hardliner on the Hudson, is about Sen. Bob Menendez and his hardline Cuba policy:

The Biden admin still won't explain why Cuba is a "State Sponsor of Terrorism" even after removing it from the list of countries that don’t “cooperate fully” with anti-terrorism efforts.
Meanwhile, @StateDept affirmed its embrace of an "incredibly comprehensive embargo" on Cuba.
Belly of the Beast (X, May 18, 2024)
With a short (1:12 min.) video clip from a press briefing. The 'logic' of calling Cuba a State Sponsor of Terrorism is somewhat convoluted.
 
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Elián González, the Blockade, the Pandemic and Cuban Migration

I assume that most of you remember the story about Elián González 25 years ago. This is what he has to say today about the exacerbation of the U.S. blockade and what it meant for Cubans during the pandemic before Cubans got vaccinated.
The excerpt is from 7:08 to 11:41:
Whatever happened to Elián González? Belly of the Beast’s Liz Oliva Fernández recently sat down with Elián, now 29 and a father of a 2-year-old daughter, to talk about migration, family, and Cuba’s future.

Liz Oliva Fernández (LOF): After that breakthrough in the relations between the two countries, how did the setback during Donald Trump's administration make you feel?
Elián González (EG): It was like a bucket of cold water. It wasn't even thrown at us. The bucket was put over our heads and asphyxiated us. Sometimes people say that all these measures affect the Cuban government. But no. It's the people who suffer the most. All of us. I suffered it, my neighbors, my friends. All of Cuba suffered it. How is it that in the midst of the pandemic, the U.S. government didn't lift any of those measures? They even increased the measures, applied more sanctions, and then blamed us for not being able to respond to our population's needs.
That caused discontent among our people. There were huge lines to get food. The health system collapsed. Even though we didn't have huge death spikes like other countries, the death toll was high at the time. And Cubans felt bad about that even though it was lower than in other countries.
LOF: And for us ...
EG: And for us, it was alarming because that's not what we are used to seeing in our health system.
LOF: How did that make you feel? What was it like for you in your hometown of Cárdenas, to see the situation, not just for you and your family, but also for your neighbors?
EG: First, when I saw everything that a blockade country was doing, everthing the people were doing, pulling together and doing everything they could to move forward, it made me feel proud of my people. But it made me feel sorry for the U.S. government and very angry and outraged, because I know that people in the USA are not like that. People in the U.S. are often deceived about Cuba, about the policies of their government,
LOF: Do you think the situation has changed with Biden?
EG: With Biden, there has been no palpable improvement for the Cuban people. The people struggle today the same way they struggled under Trump.
LOF: Your critical analysis of Cuba and its crises and the role sanctions play: Do young people take this into account when analyzing Cuba?
EG: I think U.S. sanctions and the campaign against Cuba have a very clear purpose so that the people blame the government for all the shortages and problems we have. And they are succeeding. The government is to blame for a lot, and we have to be critical and recognize it. [President Miguel] Díaz-Canel often acknowledges the problems and how we have to face them. We have to fight hard for Cuba. There is still a lot that needs to change.
But our main problem is facing a blockade that suffocates us. Nowadays communications and the media are dominated by the U.S.
LOF: And the U.S. is the country of opportunities.
EG: They bombard us with the idea that Cuba is a country of oppression, of precariousness, of misery, where it's impossible to live. At the same time, they apply measures that make it easier for Cubans to migrate.
LOF: In your opinion, what is the main incentive or motivation that leads people to risk their lives, and sometimes their children's lives, to migrate to the U.S.?
EG: To say that Cuba's migrants is made up of politically persecuted people and refugees is a lie. It's clear that the main motivation for migrating is economic improvement. I have many friends who have migrated. I even have many relatives who migrated: Those who had already left when I was a child, and now there are more. With all or most of them, I have a splendid relationship of friendship and love. And I also know the irritation and nostalgia they feel after leaving their island, abandoning their customs, abandoning their family.
I am happy to have grown up without missing that, without that longing.
What Elián González Wants for Cuba (Belly of the Beast on YouTube, April 21, 2023 - 15:53 min.)
 
Another batch of 'targeted' individuals in Florida

I hadn't heard about Cuba's alleged interference in U.S. elections until I saw this Cuban article about the allegations:
Articles in the Miami Herald newspaper and others in the McClatchy press organization, to which this newspaper belongs, began a new slanderous campaign against Cuba at the end of July, citing anonymous intelligence sources to support the accusation, a common practice that this journalistic organization and its editors are accustomed to when lies are the basis of the report.
The accusation is that Cuba is making efforts to influence local electoral campaigns in the state of Florida in the United States.
Categorical rejection of unfounded allegations of election meddling in the USA (Granma.cu, Aug 26, 2024)


I don't have access to the Miami Herald, but I found this article from Fox:
During the 2022 election, the intelligence community discovered Cuba had attempted to "denigrat[e]" certain candidates there. Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., who was born in Cuba and represents the Florida Keys and part of Miami-Dade, said at the time he believed he was one such target.
Cuban regime’s reported return to meddling in US elections a ‘badge of honor’ for targeted critics (Fox News, July 30, 2024)


There are several allegations in the article, but there is nothing more specific than the above-mentioned attempt to denigrate certain candidates. What was the content of the alleged denigration? Was it true or made up? Where and how did the denigration appear?
Investigative journalism usually digs a little deeper than that. Why not ask the Florida politicians what exactly they were accused of? Considering that "Gimenez added Tuesday that he wears "like a badge of honor" the target Cuba has reportedly placed on him," why doesn't Gimenez himself brag about exactly what the denigration was about?

And if Cuba, for whatever reason, has used right-wing social media posts to attack Republican politicians, why doesn't Fox News show us the tweets?
A source told Fox News Digital that one avenue the Cubans have used to target such lawmakers is to utilize social media so-called "bots" that attack Republicans from the political right, to make them unpalatable to the greater electorate.


The actual social media posts were what really made Reuter's article about Pentagon's clandestine anti-vax campaign in the Philippines and other places worth reading. Is Fox News just doing sloppy journalism, do the alleged social media posts actually exist, or are they all made up?

Forgive me for being a bit skeptical, but it's not the first time I have heard about Americans being targeted without a shred of evidence that they were ever exposed to any kind of attack.
 
As was to be expected:
Trump reinstates Cuba as state sponsor of terrorism, reversing Biden's decision (CBS News Miami, Jan 21, 2025)
On his first day in office, President Donald Trump reinstated Cuba's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, reversing an executive order issued by former President Joe Biden just last week.
Biden had announced plans to lift the designation as part of a Vatican-brokered deal to free political prisoners in Cuba.
Donald Trump revokes the removal of Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism (Granma.cu, Jan 20, 2025)
Cuba remains unyielding despite being reinstated on terrorist list (CubaSí.cu, Jan 21, 2025)
Diaz-Canel says Trump seeks to intensify economic war against Cuba (CubaSí.cu, Jan 21, 2025)
President of ICAP, Fernando Gonzalez, says Cuba will overcome Trump's actions (CubaSí.cu, Jan 21, 2025)
 
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We, the terrorists (Granma.cu, Jan 24, 2025)
No surprise that Trump overruled the decision; it was to be expected
What does it mean for America to be great again? (Granma.cu, Jan 23, 2025)
What does making America great again mean? (Granma.cu, Jan 24, 2025)

Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum:
Desde la paz, seguir trabajando fuerte por la defensa de Cuba (Trabajadores.cu, Jan 24, 2025)
In the face of the imperialist onslaught, Cuba will win (Statement by the Revolutionary Government, Granma.cu, Jan 22, 2025)
Raúl and Díaz-Canel visited the Western Army Headquarters (Granma.cu, Jan 24, 2025)
Raúl and Díaz-Canel presided over the start of the Bastión 2024 Strategic Exercise (Granma.cu, Jan 24, 2025)
Resistance and solidarity against imperial arrogance (Granma.cu, Jan 24, 2025)
 
Time for more protests:
Trump orders opening of migrant detention center at Guantánamo Bay (TheGuardian, Jan 29, 2025)
Donald Trump has signed an executive order to prepare a huge detention facility at Guantánamo Bay that he said could be used to hold up to 30,000 immigrants deported from the US.

Crickets seem to be pretty easy to breed. The Cubans should consider breeding enough of the Indies short-tailed crickets for a major infestation of the Gitmo Base. It is fairly obvious that U.S. officials are very susceptible to the sound of 🦗🦗🦗. I see no reason why U.S. prison guards would be any different in this respect.
 
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A post in the 'syndrome' thread is also relevant here:
 
Elon Musk may be on to something:
Elon Musk on X, Feb 2, 2025
USAID is a criminal organization.
Time for it to die.
But I guess this is probably not what he's thinking of:
USAID (CubaSí.cu)
La Usaid en desgracia o la nueva narrativa de las viejas patrañas Granma.cu, Feb 3, 2025)
U.S. Agency finances campaign against Cuban doctors in Mexico (Granma.cu, Sep 22, 2022)
USAID and the deep pockets of the counterrevolution (Granma.cu, Nov 12, 2020)
USAID thieves in Latin America (Granma.cu, Feb 21, 2020)
The U.S. government allocates millions of dollars to obstruct Cuban medical cooperation (Granma.cu, Aug 29, 2019)
Another USAID covert plan exposed (Granma.cu, Dec 12, 2014)

By the way, Cuba rejects U.S. decision to incarcerate migrants at Guantanamo Naval Base (Granma.cu, Jan 31, 2025)
 
While quacks and charlatans like RFK Jr. and Jay Bhattacharya are taking over as Secretary of Health and Human Services and Director of the National Institutes of Health and measles are taking over Texas, it's worth remembering that there are places in the world where billionaires and pseudo-science don't rule health care:

Neither donjuans nor healers: Real Doctors! (Granma.cu, Feb 11, 2025)
In remote places like this one, and in years like 1953, from which they come, the darkness of the time guaranteed a "sugar cane harvest" without downtime, into the pockets of the swindlers and those who protected them out of convenience.
Don Juan Rodríguez was from Cienfuegos, and "the healer of Piñi" was from Potrerillo, a former location of Las Villas; vulgar impostors with a halo of miracles. With his sharp pen, Samuel Feijóo exposed them.
(...)
OBLIVION, DECEIT, STRANGE RECIPES AND A DENUNCIATION
"Don Juan Rodríguez", says Feijóo, "practiced his healing on Good Fridays, all night long". For patients with hernia or asthma, depending on the case, he would place their bare feet on the roots of a ceiba tree or measure their height with a string; "magic" that, it was said, "cured the patient". But, "not a single case of healing was verified," the writer-journalist complained. Every year a greater number of asthmatics and hernia patients returned".
Another terrible episode involved "the healer of Piñi, who, accused of the death of a child from Potrerillo", denied his guilt. He did not admit to charging for his "services", nor did he want to be photographed. But, "we took pictures of his brick house, with a power plant, water pump and television in the middle of the mountain!", says Samuel.
Later he learned that the little sorcerer had "more than 80,000 pesos, three farms, a hotel, various comforts, and faithful fans that support him. This money came from heaven", he joked, and he even went to San Juan de los Yeras to find a doctor who knew what had happened.
"That vulgar healer killed the child -said the doctor- powerful influences have moved to defend the villain, because he can find more than 300 votes among the sick; the politicians support and protect him". This is the embryonic key to evil.
Under the protection of such low passions, in the shadow of such cruel indifference, in collusion with politicians and demagogues, a plague of charlatans was able to turn poverty and ignorance into a business.
The "cures", denounced by Samuel Feijóo, still hurt. They are a disgusting mockery of swindlers, for a multitude of sick, ignorant and marginalized people without access to medical services. "Barbaric recipes" the writer called them: "For pneumonia: horse manure boiled with pumpkin flowers; for listlessness, a decoction of pigeon droppings".
For choking, "a poultice of pig excrement with edible oil; and entrails of roasted vultures, if the disease is asthma".

For COVID-19: bleach, livestock dewormer, UV light or herd immunity by infection ...
No, that's absurd. That's what you might be able to persuade illiterates in third-world countries to resort to.
 
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