The Cuban Embargo as the Mother of Invention
Many countries in the world are beginning to lose their patience with Washington’s attitude and policies concerning Cuba. They feel that it is extremely anachronistic for the United States to maintain its embargo against the island country. With most of the Eastern European governments holding democratic elections, Communism is not the international threat it once was. The dissolution of the Soviet Union has meant that Cuba has lost most of its economic support and that the country has been left politically isolated. As incomprehensible as US policies regarding Cuba seem to foreign governments, they all recognize the right of the United States to maintain whatever policy it deems suitable for itself. However, what they highly object to is the pretension demonstrated by the US government in prohibiting other countries from doing business with Cuba. They refute the legality of the American government’s ostentation, as seen in the recent passage of the Helms-Burton Act, as a breach of extraterritoriality.
Whatever our opinions of the Cuban embargo may be, it has instigated some unexpectedly happy results in the resourcefulness of some sectors of the Cuban economy. Left without markets to provide themselves with resources, the Cubans have been forced to look inward at their own ingenuity. The silver lining to the cloud of the Cuban embargo is yet another case of proverbial necessity being the mother of invention.
The most obvious cases involve mechanical parts for autos or industry. Without access to American markets to supply them with spare parts for their antiquated American machinery and automobiles, the mechanics have been forced to reinvent those parts.
The most extraordinary example of Cuban ingenuity, however, regards the paper industry. Instead of throwing away the fibery pulp remainders from sugar cane, they have found a way to produce a pulp similar to the wood pulp used for paper production. They have since managed to satisfy the country’s demand for paper and paper products. Moreover, they have fulfilled this need by recycling what was once a simple waste product of the sugar production process.
The Cubans, however, are unlikely to credit the embargo imposed by the American government with inspiring their own acumen for inventions. The perpetuation of this kind of politics will probably only serve to make the people of Cuba believe that Castro is right when he says that the United States is the cause of all of their misery and sacrifice. It won’t be long before Castro will be gone. It might serve the purpose of democracy better if America were to adopt policies less likely to jeopardize our future relationship with the inhabitants of this neighboring island. Not to mention the unpopularity that the United States is creating for itself in the international community by insisting that the rest of the world adapt their foreign policies toward Cuba to coincide with our own. Many openly question America’s double standard in continuing to carry on commercial relations with China. Our efforts would be better spent in seeking the cooperation of foreign governments and insisting that they comply with measures against such countries as Iran, Iraq, and Libya, which are known to be sponsors of world terrorism and are a much greater threat to all of us than this island in the Caribbean on the verge of collapse.
July 1996
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