Brazil's president calls U.S. economic embargo on Cuba 'illegal,' condemns terrorist list label
Brazil's president calls U.S. economic embargo on Cuba 'illegal,' condemns terrorist list label
On his first trip to Cuba during his third term in office, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called the embargo imposed by the United States on the island "illegal" and denounced the island's inclusion on the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
And rightfully so. The US isn't the world police and doesn't have the right to block entire countries just because they feel like it. Just imagine China or Russia doing the same to some random European country. The double standards speak volumes. This is not the way.
67Well Russia is currently bombing a European country which I personally consider much worse than an embargo.
31The US this year has launched airstrikes in Syria, Somalia and possibly Yemen. That is not somehow better, just because they're not a European country. And even if it were better, another country doing really shitty things is not a good argument for why a separate country can do maybe-less-shitty-but-still-shitty things.
Cuba has been under full trade embargo by the US for over 60 years, after the US Bay of Pigs Invasion failure. Russia only has sanctions and embargoes by the US on some products though, despite invading a European country. How does that happen?
9relevance?
2
the US isn't blockading Cuba, they're just embargoing it. There's a difference.
3It's not a direct blockade, but the US has in the past threatened to cut off financial aid to any country that trades with Cuba, disallows foreign subsidiaries of US companies to trade, and even threatens sanctions upon foreign companies that do any trade in or with the US that also trade in Cuba.
The UN has cited to condemn it every year for many years, with usually only the US and Israel voting against. They say it is a violation of international law and the UN charter.
It is abhorrent and unjustifiable, and has a real cost in human lives and suffering.
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The USA, like any country, has the right to decide who they trade with and the right to suggest the terms under which they are willing to engage in trade. Other nations have the right to accept those terms or not.
I do not support the embargo but it is ignorant to suggest it is illegal.
-2This is a bad faith argument, they are doing much more than that. They force other countries to do the same through economic pressure.
The legality of it is foggy only because the US literally decides if what it does is legal or illegal. It's condemned internationally and clearly morally shitty, stop bootlicking.
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dunno about legality, but it's not cool, and none of these embargoes succeeded at causing a regime change anywhere as far as I know
44It has a real human cost too, with many people dying as they cannot get the treatment/medication they need, holding a whole country in the past due to bitterness. I wish this was reversed, for the sake of the people whose futures are pointlessly held back.
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And yet Biden keeps the sanctions, and additional things Trump added like the terrorist list.
And people wonder why the left keeps saying Dems and Republicans are the same. They're a bit further apart on a small amount of domestic issues, but geopolitically? They're just as evil and determined to keep/expand American domination and exploitation across the globe to the detriment of billions in the global south.
22a bit further apart on a small amount of domestic issues
I think trans people and abortions rights advocates could not disagree more.
This would be why those who say "both sides are the same" are derided. You can make a very apt criticism of Democrats for continuing these policies when they have the ability to end them, while not minimizing LGBT rights and abortion rights.
You aren't going to win until you build coalitions, and you aren't going to build coalitions until you learn to value issues that you don't personally care about. All you do by saying the parties are the same is that you don't care about what they differ on, and unsurprisingly, people on the left dislike those who think abortion and LGBT rights don't matter.
1you're absolutely right. perfect should be the enemy of good.
you honestly believe the global south will be no worse if the world's only hegemon turns fascist?
-1
It's unacceptable that this embargo continues, and it's even more unacceptable that the US threatens countries for not respecting it. This is an old carryover from the cold war, and we'd be better off ending the embargo entirely. If that's not politically feasible in the US, then at the very least remove any threats against countries which do trade with Cuba.
It's hard to not draw comparisons to sanctions on Russia, but they're completely different situations. Russia is actively invading another country this moment. That geopolitical issue is ongoing. The geopolitical issue with Cuba is not.
11Yeah. No. Like, I'm not a fan of the embargo, I don't see any purpose to it.
That being said, it is patently idiotic to say that it's illegal for the US to not want to trade with Cuba. Brazil can trade with whoever they want and embargo whoever they want. Same with the US. It's called national sovereignty. If the US was interdicting shipping going to Cuba, or blocking air traffic, or whatever, then he might have a point, but that's not happening.
US trade policy with Cuba might be unproductive and ill advised, but it is dishonest to say that it is an illegal policy. It's never illegal to not trade with a certain country. Cuba doesn't have a right under international law to sell their exports to American consumers.
9I don't think you understand the extent of this "embargo". It goes far beyond simply not trading with them.
It's not a direct blockade, but the US has in the past threatened to cut off financial aid to any country that trades with Cuba, disallows foreign subsidiaries of US companies to trade, and even threatens sanctions upon foreign companies that do any trade in or with the US that also trade in Cuba. They've also begun attempting to strangle their tourism, by disqualifying any person who visits the island from ESTA - which lets citizens from countries like those in the EU visit the US visa-free. This makes travel extremely difficult, requiring a costly and time consuming visa application which could be denied.
The UN has voted to condemn it every year for many years, with usually only the US and Israel voting against. They say it is a violation of international law and the UN charter. (https://www.un.org/en/ga/62/plenary/cuba/bkg.shtml)
It is abhorrent and unjustifiable, and has a real cost in human lives and suffering.
38As someone who just lost their ESTA, this whole thing is bullshit.
I’m a citizen of an European country, left Cuba when I was a minor and have zero interest in going to Cuba.
Yet I can’t go see my daughter in the USA without a visa.
Literally last week I was at the US Embassy requesting the visa, they gave me a 10 year pass (thank fuck).
But my whole family has to go through the same process. It’s all bullshit. I had to wait in line for two hours, in a city that’s far away from where I live, just to get the visa.
Edit: not to mention that this whole process takes hundreds of euros, around 150€ just for filling their online form, then add travel and accommodation expenses.
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How does this embargo work? Is it that the US is not trading with Cuba or are they blocking other countries from trading with Cuba as well?
8They are blocking others from trading based on threats to cease or reduce trading with the other nation. That isn't illegal at all.
Note I do not support the embargo as it is pointlessly cruel at this point.
10The UN has stated it is against international law and the UN charter, and votes to condemn it every year. Usually only the US and Israel vote against it.
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This is the best summary I could come up with:
BRASILIA, Sept 16 (Reuters) - On his first trip to Cuba during his third term in office, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called the embargo imposed by the United States on the island "illegal" and denounced the island's inclusion on the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
And to this day it is the victim of an illegal economic embargo," Lula said in a speech opening the G77 Summit of developing nations in the capital, Havana.
The comments were made just hours before Lula left for New York, where he will attend the United Nations General Assembly and have bilateral talks with Biden.
The Biden administration has previously said U.S. law includes exemptions and authorizations for exports of food, medicine, and other humanitarian goods to the island.
During the Assembly, Brazil is expected to return to its historic position of condemning the embargo on Cuba, one of the motions that is usually voted on every year at the United Nations and passes overwhelmingly.
Lula also used his speech to call once again for the investment promised by developed countries to reduce the impact of climate change, as established in the Paris Agreement, but which has not been fulfilled.
The original article contains 412 words, the summary contains 200 words. Saved 51%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
7I mean I get it. We were trying to rebuild ties with Cuba but then wasn't it Obama as well as Cheeto Mussolini also fuckin it up? I remember we open up to them a few years back.
-5Obama is the one that reopened the embassy and tried to re-establish relations. Trump immediately reversed it and re-sanctioned.
53And Biden hasn't fixed any of it. In fact, I think he's made it worse. It's probably his worst policy so far tbh. I don't even know why it still exists. It just makes the lives of common people there worse. It was put in for regime change 60 years ago and clearly hasn't worked. Plus, we need to stop doing that anyway. The US's boner for regime change and coups is it's worst trait and has led to so much evil in the world.
Literally every single other country in the world votes against the US keeping the embargo up (except Israel but they're basically an extension of the US).
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