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To: cubanews@groups.io
Subject: Re: ACN: Cuban FM urges to confront the Monroe Doctrine that US
intends to impose in the Americas
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The goal of Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez to reassert the concept and
treaty agreement of Latin America as a zone of peace and equal rights is
indisputable and indispensable.
While understandable, his focus on the Monroe Doctrine requires more nuance.
When John Kerry was Secretary of State, he buried the Monroe Doctrine in a speech at the Organization of American States. However, John Bolton explicitly resuscitated it as National Security Adviser. From Joe Biden's statements to date, I expect reinterment, even regarding Venezuela.
This does not mean that the US will cease trying to influence events in other countries in the Western Hemisphere, nor that it will stop pushing back against the role of other big powers.
However, that is the hegemonistic characteristic of virtually every country in the world with the power to subjectively conceive that the logical interests of neighbors are inherently compatible with its own.
Countries bordering or close to China and Russia are no less sensitive to overt and covert threats to their sovereignty than is Cuba to the U.S. Just ask Georgia, Ukraine, India and the countries surrounding the South China Sea. As an American of Irish extraction, I can cite chapter and verse about centuries of English depredations, including the continuing forced separation of northern Ireland.
It was not noticed, but during her impeachment testimony Fiona Hill reported that the Russians had broached the idea that they would accept US Monroe Doctrine tenets about Venezuela if the US reciprocated for Russia's relationship to Ukraine.
For those that geography has condemned to permanent existence in a near abroad, an extraordinary and inescapable challenge is how to maintain economic and political self-determination against both explicit demands and unspoken natural attractions leading to cultural and financial dominance by a wealthier more powerful neighbor.
A classic response is to develop enough of a relationship with one or more other global players to motivate more respect close to home, albeit also self-interested. The hard part is those ties can add the dimension of national security to the hegemon's self-justification. US concerns about Russian and more recently Chinese influence in Cuba were earlier expressed about other European countries supplanting a collapsing Spanish empire. Russia makes no secret about the self-defense dimension of its actions in Ukraine, nor China about its anger against Viet Nam and the US finding common cause.
Hopefully we are at the conclusion of the Trump/Rubio era in Latin America. Foreign Minister Rodriguez will be able to redirect his attention from the old crude war to the new more subtle one. With imagination and creativity both Cuba and the US will this time find a path to mutual respect and benefit.
1a.
ACN: Cuban FM urges to confront the Monroe Doctrine that US intends to impose in the Americas
From: Abel Gonzalez Alayon
Date: Mon, 07 Sep 2020 09:15:11 PDT
Cuban FM urges to confront the Monroe Doctrine that US intends to impose in the Americas
HAVANA, Cuba, Sep 7 (ACN) Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez today urged on his Twitter account that the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean respect their commitments as the only way to confront the Monroe Doctrine that the United States intends to impose in the region.
Rodriguez referred to the importance of observing the principles of national sovereignty and equal rights, which is the basis of the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as Zone of Peace.
He added that only thus, we can face the US everlasting wish of imposing the Monroe Doctrine in the Americas territory.
Abel González Alayón
Chief-Editor Language Department
Cuban News Agency
While understandable, his focus on the Monroe Doctrine requires more nuance.
When John Kerry was Secretary of State, he buried the Monroe Doctrine in a speech at the Organization of American States. However, John Bolton explicitly resuscitated it as National Security Adviser. From Joe Biden's statements to date, I expect reinterment, even regarding Venezuela.
This does not mean that the US will cease trying to influence events in other countries in the Western Hemisphere, nor that it will stop pushing back against the role of other big powers.
However, that is the hegemonistic characteristic of virtually every country in the world with the power to subjectively conceive that the logical interests of neighbors are inherently compatible with its own.
Countries bordering or close to China and Russia are no less sensitive to overt and covert threats to their sovereignty than is Cuba to the U.S. Just ask Georgia, Ukraine, India and the countries surrounding the South China Sea. As an American of Irish extraction, I can cite chapter and verse about centuries of English depredations, including the continuing forced separation of northern Ireland.
It was not noticed, but during her impeachment testimony Fiona Hill reported that the Russians had broached the idea that they would accept US Monroe Doctrine tenets about Venezuela if the US reciprocated for Russia's relationship to Ukraine.
For those that geography has condemned to permanent existence in a near abroad, an extraordinary and inescapable challenge is how to maintain economic and political self-determination against both explicit demands and unspoken natural attractions leading to cultural and financial dominance by a wealthier more powerful neighbor.
A classic response is to develop enough of a relationship with one or more other global players to motivate more respect close to home, albeit also self-interested. The hard part is those ties can add the dimension of national security to the hegemon's self-justification. US concerns about Russian and more recently Chinese influence in Cuba were earlier expressed about other European countries supplanting a collapsing Spanish empire. Russia makes no secret about the self-defense dimension of its actions in Ukraine, nor China about its anger against Viet Nam and the US finding common cause.
Hopefully we are at the conclusion of the Trump/Rubio era in Latin America. Foreign Minister Rodriguez will be able to redirect his attention from the old crude war to the new more subtle one. With imagination and creativity both Cuba and the US will this time find a path to mutual respect and benefit.
1a.
ACN: Cuban FM urges to confront the Monroe Doctrine that US intends to impose in the Americas
From: Abel Gonzalez Alayon
Date: Mon, 07 Sep 2020 09:15:11 PDT
Cuban FM urges to confront the Monroe Doctrine that US intends to impose in the Americas
HAVANA, Cuba, Sep 7 (ACN) Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez today urged on his Twitter account that the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean respect their commitments as the only way to confront the Monroe Doctrine that the United States intends to impose in the region.
Rodriguez referred to the importance of observing the principles of national sovereignty and equal rights, which is the basis of the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as Zone of Peace.
He added that only thus, we can face the US everlasting wish of imposing the Monroe Doctrine in the Americas territory.
Abel González Alayón
Chief-Editor Language Department
Cuban News Agency
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