The US didn’t cause Cuba’s woes. Communism and Fidel Castro did | Opinion

I’m writing in response to Charles Hammer’s recent commentary, “US-enforced poverty in Cuba is baffling to contemplate, 65 years after its start.” Its headline is a summary of the column: According to the author, the United States is responsible for suffering and widespread shortages of food in Cuba. These are some of the facts that were left out: Cuba is a tropical island surrounded by a bountiful sea. The rationing of mangoes, tomatoes and fish has nothing to do with U.S. sanctions. It is caused by communist economic policy. There are hundreds of farmers in prison for daring to sell their produce to Cubans instead of to the government’s monopoly. Chicken available in Havana is frozen chicken imported from New Orleans. According to Amnesty International, there are more than 1,000 Cuban political prisoners. There are no freedom of the press or independent labor unions there. American terrorists on the FBI Most Wanted List enjoy the Cuban regime’s hospitality. There are several thousand Cubans waging war in Ukraine, serving in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s army. There are also Chinese spy stations targeting the U.S. in Cuba. Before coming to power, Fidel Castro claimed that he was not a communist. In an April 1985 Playboy magazine interview, he said: “The socialist countries pay us better prices, and have much better relations with us than the United States. There is a popular Cuban phrase: ‘Do not exchange a cow for a goat.’”

Frank Calzon is former executive director of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Center for a Free Cuba in Washington, D.C.