What do you know about Cuba? If you don’t know much, you’re in the majority. Havana lies a mere 106 miles from our country’s border, but it might as well be on the other side of the planet considering that most Americans, especially our youth, are completely uninformed when it comes to Cuba’s socio-political climate. That’s where Witness for Peace comes in. Witness for Peace (WFP) is a politically independent, nationwide grassroots organization of people committed to supporting peace, justice, and sustainable economies in the Americas by changing U.S. policies and corporate practices that contribute to poverty and oppression in Latin America and the Caribbean.

  Since its founding  in 1983, the organization has led countless delegations of U.S. citizens to Latin American countries with the aim of becoming informed on issues relating to U.S. policy. I fortunately had the chance to go on a youth delegation to Cuba this August, and I’ve returned with lots of information to share. Let’s begin.

  We’ll start with a brief backstory. In 1940, Fulgencio Batista was democratically elected as president of Cuba. In 1952, Batista orchestrated a coup d'etat and began ruling the country as a brutal dictator. His coup, along with his regime, was fully backed by the U.S. government. From 1952-1958, Batista transformed Cuba into a severely economically dependent country.  The wealth gap widened dramatically, with the large majority of Cuba’s wealth lying in the hands of foreign investors—especially ones based in the United States. Cubans were stripped of their constitutional liberties and had no way of altering their unfortunate situation, as many of them were illiterate and worked impossible hours for negligible pay. All demonstrations against Batista were met with military retaliation, and the press was silenced.

Hope seemed lost for most Cubans. That’s when Fidel Castro decided to step in and make a change. He led his own coup d'etat, a process which resulted in the foundation of a communist government presiding over a socialist society in 1959. At this point,  Cubans were overjoyed and optimistic; after all, living under socialism seemed worlds better than Batista’s authoritarianism. The U.S. government didn’t share this sentiment, though; it was set on destroying Castro from the second he gained power. He may have been a promising ray of hope for Cubans, but the U.S. considered him bad for business and was not fond of his new political and economic relations with the Russians.

  Playa Larga, the Bay of Pigs,  April 1961. The conflict that almost caused World War III. After allying with the Russians, Castro agreed to house nuclear missiles in Cuba as a response to the U.S. setting up nuclear missiles in Turkey, which lies near Russia’s border. After hundreds of unsuccessful attempts by the CIA to assassinate Castro, Richard Nixon, the vice president at the time, devised a plan to overthrow him by staging a military invasion disguised as another Cuban reclamation of power. The CIA employed over 1,400 Cuban Americans who had fled Cuba after Castro gained power to avoid legal ramifications (many wealthy Cubans, even those who ran honest businesses, were put on trial by Castro’s regime for crimes against the Cuban people.) Equipped with American military technology sporting the logo of the Cuban flag, the Cuban mercenaries landed in Playa Larga and were met with strong resistance, ultimately resulting in a decisive defeat.

  The U.S. government, shocked and embarrassed by the poor execution of the mission, looked to alternative means of destabilizing Castro’s regime. Since the Cuban people were in full support of Castro, especially after the Bay of Pigs, it was impossible to spark a successful revolution at that time. So the next best plan of action, the U.S. thought, was to intentionally devastate Cuba’s economy until the people became so impoverished and miserable that they would have no choice but to blame it on Castro and revolt. Despicable, right?  To do so, our government established heavy trade restrictions that cut off all trade between Cuba and the U.S. and strongly discouraged other countries from trading with Cuba. These trade restrictions are referred to by Cubans as the U.S. “blockade.”

  That was 57 years ago.  Since the infamous Cuban Missile Crisis and the resulting nuclear disarmament of Cuba, there have been no further military conflicts between Cuba and the United States. And yet, the blockade still stands. Although some of the more harsh trade restrictions have been lifted and U.S. enterprise is slowly starting to trickle back into Cuba, its people still suffer economically as a result.  

Since Cuba runs on socialism, government programs exist to provide free education, healthcare, and to meet dietary needs. However, socialism runs much smoother when the country operating under it has a high GDP and good economy, otherwise these programs can be underwhelming and ineffective. This is the case in Cuba, where the economy is stagnated due to trade restrictions.

  Doctors don’t have access to modern day medicine, such as the equipment required  to treat complicated diseases like cancer. They have no computers to keep records, so all patient needs and prescriptions are recorded by hand on paper. The education system, although still effective, does not employ the internet as an educational resource. Although there are many organic farms that Cubans can buy food from, most of the food consumed in Cuba is subsidized. Unfortunately, the quality of the nutrition has declined in recent decades, and now 70% of all food consists of staple crops such as rice and beans imported from Asian countries for ultra cheap. This leaves gaping holes in nutritional needs, which is detrimental to children’s health.

  Since the average monthly income in Cuba is equivalent to a mere $20 USD, Cubans need these government programs to be reliable. The trade restrictions imposed by the US government only makes this harder. Every year at the United Nations general assembly, all UN countries vote on whether it should be lifted.  Most countries in the world realize that lifting the blockade is long overdue; however, it has to be a unanimous vote, and the U.S. is the only country to continually vote in favor of the restrictions since 1961.

  Life in Cuba isn’t easy, and it hasn’t been for the last 60 years. The difficulty of living under constant financial crisis would make most people angry and desperate, but this isn’t the case for Cubans.  Whether it was a stranger, tour guide, doctor or student, every person I conversed with had an optimistic attitude and lots of passion. They are proud to be Cuban and are driven to improve their way of life, always searching for ways to connect and give back to their communities. This communal attitude, this ubiquitous sense of family, is what makes the country so beautiful.

Witness for Peace is on a mission to give Cubans the justice they deserve by ending this blockade, and they’re doing it by facilitating cross-cultural interactions through these delegations.  By the end of each delegation, participants learn the struggles of the people and are given the tools necessary to influence US foreign policy so that they can help end the struggle. This year, several Enloe students got the opportunity to be a part of change through WFP and there will be more opportunities like it. If you’re interested in being part of a delegation this coming summer, contact Mrs. Slusser or myself.

  If you want to help make a difference now, the best thing to do is spread the word. The first and most important step in making a change is informing as many people as possible about the issue, and you can certainly help with that. Spread the word—tell your parents, your friends, anyone. If you need more information, check out WPF’s website.