THE POOR CUBAN WORKERS: THE US MEANS TO HARM THEM

The Prime Minister Philip Davis sat for a one hour tet-a-tet with the United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The meeting took place on Tuesday 6 May 2025 in Washington D C.  Here is the readout in part from the meeting issued by the U S State Department: “Secretary Rubio urged our partners to make responsible, transparent decisions when selecting vendors and contractors for critical infrastructure projects, ensuring they are not vulnerable to privacy and security risks and exploitation by malign actors like the Chinese Communist Party.  He also reaffirmed our commitment to holding accountable Cuban regime officials, foreign government officials, and those involved in facilitating the regime’s forced labor scheme, including Cuba’s medical missions.” It was a forum therefore to continue the attack on the Cuban workers programme that helps our health care systems in the region and to urge our countries not to accept funding from China.  The problem is that the U S offers no alternative.  There is an irony in the Cuban situation too.  Even if we accept that the U S is right (which they are not) and only part of the funds paid goes to the Cuban workers and their families, by stopping the programmes aren’t they even depriving those poor Cubans of that money.  None of these arguments can persuade or cajole, because it isn’t rationality that drives the American project, it’s ideological.