Imani Tafari-Ama | Why Cuba’s crisis demands regional courage

If Caribbean governments thought they could keep up their safe stance of silence on the catastrophic crisis in Cuba, they are rapidly realising that they may have to change their calculations. The war in West Asia, sparked by the United States’ (US) and Israel’s attack on Iran and Iran’s panoramic retaliation, are bound to have huge global repercussions. Like other fuel-dependent nations, Jamaica is now bracing for the financial fallout of this conflict on oil prices. This will surely cause widespread inflation.

Following the rendition of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife to a US prison, the US tightened the sanctions pressure on Cuba by imposing an oil supply blockade on the beleaguered Caribbean island. Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness, who is currently serving as head of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), was sharply reprimanded by US Congressman Carlos A. Giménez for comments he made at a recent regional summit.

Dr Holness expressed solidarity with Cuba and recommended a humanitarian response to the crisis caused by the US’ refusal to accord Cuba a seat at the table of nations. Congressman Giménez hinted at the possibility of a sanctions response against Jamaica.

The US’ move to block oil supplies from Venezuela reaching Cuba is aggravated by sanctions against any country offering support. So far, Mexico has been the only state to risk the proposed penalties, while an oil-laden ship has sailed from Russia and should arrive in Cuba by the middle to the end of March.

Ordinary Cubans have suffered severe hardships from nearly 70 years of the intentional US strategy of economic starvation. When you drill down, the severe impact of the sanctions can be measured by the prevalence of period poverty. Period poverty refers to the inability of women and girls to access adequate menstrual and sanitation supplies.

In Cuba, period poverty is tied to the island’s denied access to international markets, financial systems, fuel, and manufactured goods, ever since the country’s 1959 Revolution. The result is that shortages of everyday essentials — including disposable sanitary products — become routine features of life rather than temporary disruptions. Women and girls bear a huge share of this burden. The War in West Asia has guaranteed that Caribbean countries — especially Jamaica — now realise that the stance of sympathetic distance from the Cuban crisis is no longer a viable option. We are all heading for the same kind of iceberg that hit the Titanic.

MOTHER OF INVENTION

Despite their dire circumstances, Cuban women and girls have proven that necessity is the mother of invention. They have created reusable menstrual cups and washable cloth pads to fill their sanitation need gap. These innovations are less a lifestyle choice than a necessity, in response to the lived reality of sanctions.

Cuba also maintains near-universal literacy, a robust primary healthcare system and heavily subsidised tertiary education. Generations of Caribbean students, including Jamaicans, have studied medicine and other disciplines there, at minimal cost. Cuban doctors, nurses, engineers and teachers have, likewise, worked throughout the region. They often go to underserved rural districts facing acute human resource shortages.

Regional governments, heavily dependent on trade, tourism, remittances and security cooperation linked to the US, often calibrate their foreign policy positions cautiously. Right now, the absence of a coordinated regional voice advocating humanitarian relief for Cuba raises difficult questions about the limits of Caribbean solidarity in the face of external pressure.

Cuba is in grave danger because it was once aligned to the Soviet Union, of which Russia used to be the capital. As a Socialist state, it does not conform to the capitalist norm. It is also a casualty of its close geographical location to the US, which has drawn a red line against its survival. Ominously, the coming economic shocks are going to upend all Caribbean economies — Jamaica’s included. I shudder to think how Cuba will withstand this double whammy.

If supported, Cuba could unleash its development potential, to the benefit of the Caribbean region. As demonstrated by mass evacuations before the onslaught of hurricanes, Cuba’s capacity to mobilise and organise the logistics of the region’s social security is already a proven capability. This strength could even redound to the benefit of Uncle Sam, through guaranteed productive partnerships from fully skilled and technologically savvy resourceful migrants.

POLITICAL CONFIDENCE

But this push for productive partnership can only flourish when Caribbean leaders and citizens include political confidence in an equation of economic emancipation. This should replace the current platform of desperate allegiance to neocolonial models of engagement. The region’s reliance on imported fuel for electricity generation, transportation and industry, also reveals our socio-economic vulnerability. With a fast-approaching hurricane season and a severe global supply shock on our doorsteps, Cuba is suddenly not an anomaly but the warning we ignore at our own peril.

The coming petrol poverty is one shipload away and there is no solar farm Plan B in place. The energy minister should roll out such a magic carpet, quick and fast, to cushion the impending impact of higher electricity bills, increased food prices and slowed economic growth across the region.

In that sense, the Cuban situation is not merely a bilateral dispute between Washington and Havana. It is part of a wider international landscape in which small states must navigate the competing pressures of great-power politics while safeguarding their own development prospects. For Caribbean nations, the challenge lies in balancing political compliance with humanitarian considerations.

As Bob Marley would say, “we don’t need no more trouble!” Regional governments could, therefore, collectively call for expanded humanitarian exemptions for Cuba. This approach should ensure that medical supplies, menstrual products and food imports flow without bureaucratic obstruction. Even modest initiatives would work right now.

Cuba’s present difficulties are a warning as much as they are a tragedy. They remind us that sanctions are never merely instruments of statecraft. They are lived realities inscribed on bodies, households and communities. If the region treats that lesson with indifference, it risks discovering too late that vulnerability, like solidarity, is contagious.

Imani Tafari-Ama, PhD, is a Pan-African advocate and gender and development specialist. Send feedback to i.tafariama@gmail.com and columns@gleanerjm.com.