We keep noticing a string of historical coincidences in what could be called the conflict between Cuba and the United States.

Some authors dislike the word "conflict", but there is no better word to describe the kind of relationship that both countries have had over the years going back long before the Ten Years War of 1868-1878.

A report entitled “U.S.-Cuban relations in the 21st Century”, issued by as prestigious an American institution as the Council on Foreign Relations and coordinated by Julia Sweig –in my opinion the best political and ideological subversive program ever devised against Cuba– holds that whenever the two countries talked about future relations they were often referring to the normalization of such relations. The report itself stresses that, in fact, the United States and Cuba have not had normal relations since 1898, when the former decided to finish off Spain’s rule over the latter.

In a positive move to end the conflict with a view to establishing diplomatic relations, today, on May 29, 2015, State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said, in an official press briefing, that “the 45-day Congressional pre-notification period has expired, and the Secretary of State has made the final decision to rescind Cuba’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism, effective today, May 29".

The statement goes on saying that, while the United States has concerns and disagreements with Havana, these fall outside the criteria supporting the current policy and therefore the decision reflects the conviction that Cuba meets the requirements to be excluded from that list.

This is so far the most significant detail about what happened between both countries on May 29, 2015. It is safe to say that an unjust and spiteful wrong that placed Cuba in an undeserved category has been finally righted.

We are no longer on the list of State Sponsors of International Terrorism, but we are still on other list, also drawn up in line with the interests and whims of the United States, including that of countries with governments whom Washington has required that they give up their political principles about their people’s defense, sovereignty and well-being and submit to the United States instead. Cuba’s name is yet to be deleted from such lists.

The date coincides with the historical May 29 of 1934, when the Platt Amendment was abolished, and with it the shameful Appendix that they added to our Constitution as of 1901.

That date, May 29, 1934, marks the signature in Washington of the Treaty of Relations between the United States and Cuba, which starts by saying that “The Republic of Cuba and the United States of America, being animated by the desire to fortify the relations of friendship between the two countries and to modify, with this purpose, the relations established between them…”

Quite a coincidence, isn’t it?

Actually, the 1934 Treaty ratified many of the provisions laid down in the 1901 Appendix, especially its Article III, which clearly emphasized everything about the Guantanamo Naval Base.

What’s interesting about this article is the following statement: “Until the two contracting parties agree to the modification or abrogation of the stipulations of the Agreement signed by the President of Cuba on February 16, 1903, and by the President of the United States of America on the 23rd day of the same month and year, in regard to the lease…”, which makes us think that this could be the best moment for both parties to reach an understanding.

Actually, what happened on November 29, 1934 signified no radical changes in the implementation of the U.S. Cuba policy that could “modify the relations between the two countries”. If anything changed, it was certainly not for the benefit of the Cuban people, who continued to suffer Yankee domination and its consequences, namely administrative corruption, theft, unemployment, lack of education, unhealthiness, murder, torture and starvation.

The signing of the Treaty and the promises that ensued notwithstanding, the United States maintains the same old Cuba agenda, only with new methods to try and impose its interests.

Quite a coincidence, isn’t it?!

May 29, 2015

Bibliography:

- Historia de la Enmienda Platt, Emilio Roig de Leuchsenring, Editorial de las Ciencias Sociales, La Habana, 1961.

- Independent Task Force Report, US-Cuban Relations in the 21st Century, Council on Foreign Relations, 1999.

- U.S. Department of State - May 29, 2015 note about Cuba-U.S. relations.

A CubaNews translation. Edited by Walter Lippmann.

http://www.walterlippmann.com/docs4386.html