On Tuesday’s broadcast of CNN International’s “Amanpour,” Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) responded to a question on whether blaming the embargo deflects blame from Cuba’s government for the situation by saying the country has “far more of a private sector trying to grow. But, again, they can’t grow because we won’t allow anything through because of the blockade. So, everything I see really comes back to this total blockade is not working, at least how we claim it’s supposed to, and I think that’s where the focus has to be.”
Guest host Bianna Golodryga asked, “[T]he counter to everything you’ve just laid out is that Cuba’s economy has been mismanaged to the ground by a state that controls everything, and has, for decades, and has crushed private business and enterprise. So, isn’t blaming the embargo itself sort of taking away any agency that the regime has and how much they own of the current situation there?”
Pocan answered, “Look, they have a very different government structure. I can point out things that we raised with them that we have concerns about, respect for people’s civil liberties. … However, it’s very clear that, if you don’t allow medical parts from the U.S., that’s not the Cuban government’s problem. That’s our problem. It’s our blockade. And we even allow that, again, in the situations of real war. So, it is our total blockade that’s really causing this, and it’s ultimately felt by the people of Cuba. That’s — when you talk to folks, if they happen to get power during these rolling blackouts at 2:00 a.m., they go to their windows and bang on pots and pans to wake everyone up, because that’s the only time you can take a shower. One woman with us hadn’t had any water for eight days. That’s when they cook their food for the day, but, of course they can’t use the refrigerator because they have no power. That’s not mismanagement. That’s directly because we don’t allow you to bring any oil in from another country, and if you do, we’ll sanction you. So, again, it goes back to U.S. policy and the fact that they do have, over my visits to Cuba, far more of a private sector trying to grow. But, again, they can’t grow because we won’t allow anything through because of the blockade. So, everything I see really comes back to this total blockade is not working, at least how we claim it’s supposed to, and I think that’s where the focus has to be.”
Later, he added, “I can tell you, this has been absolutely the worst it’s ever been, and it’s more directly related to what the United States is doing than anything else.”
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