On Tuesday and Wednesday, Florida native Mike Waltz stood before the UN General Assembly, in his capacity as ambassador to the international body, to deliver a hodgepodge of nonsense more fitting for a podcast or YouTube channel devoted to political gossip, sensationalism, and outright disinformation than for a diplomatic forum. One that he himself appeared not to fully grasp. This came in response to an annual resolution promoted by Cuba to denounce the sanctions regime that Washington has enforced since 1960 in pursuit of overturning the island’s communist political system.
I am not suggesting that the alleged corruption of Cuba’s political leadership is a minor issue: far from it. Yet it is absurd to devote most of a speech, in what is supposedly a solemn setting, to discussing, for example, that the Cuban president wears Hermès ties, checks the time on a Rolex, and signs documents with Montblanc pens. There are truths in Waltz’s remarks that are embarrassing and infuriating. The problem lies in how he builds upon them to distract attention and misinform. Ultimately, the ambassador’s own argument turns against itself.
After all, the Republican narrative, historically oriented toward hardline policies, rests on the claim that it is targeting the structure of the Cuban “regime.” But if, in the final analysis, the political elites allegedly continue to enjoy all the privileges, benefits, and luxuries that Waltz described, then what practical purpose does that policy serve? Because it is clearer than ever that it contributes enormously to worsening the suffering of ordinary Cubans.
This is the point that should be emphasized when discussing the United States’ role. One is left astonished listening to Waltz wonder how his country became Cuba’s leading supplier of fuel, fuel that benefits wealthy private actors. He invokes the existence of trade flows from the United States to Cuba to deny the existence of what is, in fact, the most powerful sanctions regime Washington has imposed on any country, a fact acknowledged even by OFAC. These commercial exchanges take place through general and specific licenses granted in certain sectors of the economy, once again privileging the private sector.
For Waltz, the key point is that nearly $880 million worth of goods had been shipped by August of this year. Yet this highlights a fundamental difference in perspective. The important issue is not merely the volume of trade, but the very distribution of those goods within Cuban society. Or simply identifying where they ultimately end up. Apparently, it is enough to claim that goods go to the private sector, or that it distributes them, for the outcome to be considered positive. But between the suffocating intensification of American economic warfare and the failures and distortions of domestic policy, the reality is that ordinary Cubans are becoming ever more impoverished and increasingly left to fend for themselves. The same observation applies to Cuba’s so-called friends, assuming any genuine ones remain. Whether they have been intimidated or simply see no reason to bleed and place their necks on the guillotine to provide even a small amount of oxygen to the Cuban political process, and above all to the Cuban people, the result is much the same.
Source for the cover image.