• queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    8
    arrow-down
    11
    ·
    29 days ago

    Even in a country that for decades has been accustomed to frequent outages amid a series of economic crises, the grid failure was unprecedented in modern times,
    […]
    They also blamed breakdowns in old thermoelectric plants that haven’t been properly maintained because of a lack of hard currency due to U.S. sanctions, as well as insufficient fuel to operate some facilities.

    The blockade is clearly the problem. Cuba is under siege and this is an obvious result.

    • PugJesus@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      10
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      edit-2
      29 days ago

      “Under siege” is when one country won’t trade with you, and the more one country won’t trade with you, the more siege it is.

      The blockade is clearly the problem.

      “The blockade”

      Jesus fuck, are you being serious right now

      • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        5
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        28 days ago

        “Under siege” is when one country won’t trade with you, and the more one country won’t trade with you, the more siege it is.

        Okay that is clearly a misinterpretation of the embargo.

        The Regulations prohibit any person subject to U.S. jurisdiction from dealing in any property in which Cuba or a Cuban national has an interest. All property of Cuba and Cuban nationals in the possession or control of persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction is “blocked.” Blocking is a “complete prohibition against transfers or transactions of any kind.”[4] Payments, transfers, withdrawals, or other dealings are prohibited with regard to blocked property unless authorized by the Treasury Department

        This is fucking ridiculous and not in any way just “one country won’t trade with you”, and that’s before we get into the US using its influence against anyone who wants to trade with Cuba.

        • PugJesus@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          8
          arrow-down
          3
          ·
          edit-2
          28 days ago

          This is fucking ridiculous and not in any way just “one country won’t trade with you”.

          Sorry, “one country won’t do any kind of business with you”.

          I’m an opponent of the embargo for the simple reason that it’s fucking pointless. But the tendency of apologists to point to it as some core cause of Cuba’s misfortunes is just the usual perpetual search for a Great Satan to blame their problems on.

          • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            6
            arrow-down
            2
            ·
            28 days ago

            Yes, any kind of business. Including using their banking system. Do you not understand how disastrous this was and remains to be to Cuba’s ability to trade with the world at large or are you being willfully obtuse? Are you aware of how the US attempts (often successfully) to enforce the sanction on other countries? Again, if you seriously think it’s as simple as you put it you need to educate yourself. Here’s a start:

            The Helms-Burton Act has been the target of criticism from Canadian and European governments in particular, who object to what they say is the extraterritorial pretensions of a piece of legislation aimed at punishing non-U.S. corporations and non-U.S. investors who have economic interests in Cuba.

            The United States has threatened to stop financial aid to other countries if they trade non-food items with Cuba. The U.S.'s attempts to do so have been vocally condemned by the United Nations General Assembly as an extraterritorial measure that contravenes “the sovereign equality of States, non-intervention in their internal affairs and freedom of trade and navigation as paramount to the conduct of international affairs”.[133] Academic Nigel White writes, “While the U.S. measures against Cuba do not amount to a blockade in a technical or formal sense, their cumulative effect is to put an economic stranglehold on the island, which not only prevents the United States intercourse but also effectively blocks commerce with other states, their citizens and companies.”

            There’s a reason every human rights group and their mother has criticized the embargo and it’s not because it’s just “one country won’t do any kind of business with you”.

            • PugJesus@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              2
              arrow-down
              3
              ·
              28 days ago

              The Helms-Burton Act. That’s really what we’re citing. Jesus fucking Christ. Do you know anything about the execution of the act, or did you just skim wiki for whatever looked good?

              • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                4
                ·
                28 days ago

                I mean I know about the results of the act, and the blockade in general. And they’re… the state of Cuba for the past 60 years.

                • PugJesus@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  2
                  arrow-down
                  2
                  ·
                  edit-2
                  28 days ago

                  I mean I know about the results of the act,

                  The results of the act being some international mockery and a couple of failed domestic lawsuits enabled by the act, which has been intermittently suspended as a diplomatic tool anyway.

                  and the blockade in general.

                  Fuck’s sake. You do realize what an actual blockade would look like for Cuba, right?

                  And they’re… the state of Cuba for the past 60 years.

                  Oh, here I thought it was grotesque economic mismanagement combined with utter dependence on Soviet subsidies to keep their sluggish economic system going. Subsidies, naturally, which stopped existing in the 90s, though things weren’t great before that either.

                  Perhaps you should read up on the Cuban government’s management of cattle on the island, once the second-largest industry in Cuba.

                  • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
                    link
                    fedilink
                    arrow-up
                    3
                    ·
                    28 days ago

                    Fuck’s sake. You do realize what an actual blockade would look like for Cuba, right?

                    Yes, things could be worse. They’re still bad.

                    I’m not saying Cuba is competently running their economy, but an incompetently run economy doesn’t lead you to the modern state of Cuba. Why are you so intent on ignoring how the US prevents their citizens, and discourages those of other countries, from doing trade with Cuba? Plenty of countries trade with Cuba, including the US itself, but that’s all despite US influence. The idea that the US is just not doing business with Cuba is patently false.