Reuters has concluded that Cuba “has jettisoned rhetorical restraint” in commenting on U.S. policies and threats. [1]
The latest example of this new Cuba approach is its government broadcasting footage of military defense exercises showing “Soviet-era tanks rolling out from mountain caves, soldiers manning anti-aircraft missile batteries, spandex-clad women shooting rifles and factory workers taking up [military defense] positions around their plants.” This is described as training for “The War of the Whole People.”
This Cuban reaction, although lamentable, is understandable ever since the obvious increasing influence of National Security Advisor John Bolton, long known for hostile opinions about Cuba, as evidenced by his speech last November in which he called Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua as the “Troika of Tyranny.” More recently the U.S. has been hinting at U.S. military intervention in Venezuela with a possible spill-over against Cuba.
Another sign of Cuba’s “new” approach came last month in a speech by President Diaz-Canel denouncing a Trump speech as “high-handed, cynical, immoral, threatening, offensive, interfering, hypocritical, warlike and dirty.”
The long-simmering dispute between the U.S. and Cuba over the medical problems of some U.S. diplomats, while stationed in Cuba, saw more aggressive Cuban rhetoric on March 14 when Cuba denounced the U.S. continuing to call them “attacks” without any evidence and as part of a broader campaign to damage bilateral relations. Cuba’s director of U.S. affairs at its Foreign Ministry said, “The topic has been highly manipulated politically by the U.S. government, with unfounded accusations, that have been a pretext to take measures against bilateral relations. . . . This manipulation is also serving those who want to reinforce the idea Cuba is a threat and those who opportunistically look to catalog Cuba as a country that sponsors terrorism. It’s a scandal that the State Department is still using the term ‘attacks’ in its statements to the press, with total irresponsibility, This is a national security issue for Cuba, especially when you know the political intentions declared by some [U.S.] individuals, to conduct our relations by a pattern of confrontation.” [2]
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[1] Reuters, In Cuba, Obama’s Detente Becomes History as Trump Threatens, N.Y. Times (Mar. 14, 2019). See also the posts listed in the “U.S. (Trump) and Cuba, 2016-17” and “U.S. (Trump) and Cuba, 2018” sections of List of Posts to dwkcommentaries—Topical: CUBA .
[2] Reuters, Cuba Says USA, Not Canada, Manipulating Diplomat Health Incidents, N.Y. Times (Mar. 14, 2019); Assoc. Press, Cubans Again Dispute Claim Attacks Made Diplomats Ill, N.Y. Times (Mar. 14, 2019); Cuba reaffirms that there is no evidence of any sonic attack, Granma (Mar. 14, 2019). See also posts listed in the “U.S. Diplomats’ Medical Problems in Cuba, 2016—??” section of List of Posts to dwkcommentaries.com—Topical: CUBA.
