His View: America has a history of hypocrisy when it comes to Cuba

I have never been one to haphazardly toss around notions like sinfulness. After all, “Judge not lest ye be judged.”

Nonetheless, among the very few human behaviors I would label “sinful,” mental laziness and intellectual dishonesty would have to rank up there with greed, idolatry and crass materialism.

This is so for a simple reason. I believe our purpose — if such a one indeed exists — is to struggle through life’s difficult lessons to a threshold of self-awareness that can and will only be achieved through total honesty ... with others, but most of all, with oneself.

It is with this caveat in mind that I indict those who support our country’s embargo of the tiny island nation of Cuba. As will be seen, our stated reasons for quarantining this socialist country for more than six decades are facile, hypocritical and downright dishonest.

You will hear much of Castro’s government denial of suppression of civil liberties and its apparent fondness for locking up opponents of the regime. From all I can extract from the torrents of abuse heaped upon Cuba, the underlying premise of these arguments is the moral probity of our own foreign-policy today and always.

For more than 60 years, the United States has tried to overthrow the Cuban government. For the entire duration, an economic embargo has done much to cripple their economy. A U.S.-organized invasion at the Bay of Pigs proved an abject failure. Numerous botched efforts at assassinating Fidel produced the same results. Until recently, this island nation (under U.S. pressure) was refused membership in the Organization of American States, further isolating Cuba diplomatically. Even today there exists a travel ban.

The reason behind these concerted efforts to topple the socialist regime can best be summed up in a scholarly foundation’s report: The economic sanctions are seen as a way for the U.S. to display its disapproval of communism and uphold the American ideals of freedom and democracy. Now, I am among the first to criticize the Cuban government’s record on the suppression of civil liberties and the jailing of dissidents. According to the best estimates available, more than 400 opponents of the Castro regime have died in government hands. In a recent report by Human Rights Watch, there are currently 75 political prisoners jailed in Cuba and another 28 imprisoned for their antigovernment beliefs. Free Press and the right of assembly are both unknown.

When I think of Castro’s legacy, I am tempted to compare it to what went before. The brutal dictator Fulgencio Batista, in the seven years of his absolute rule, was responsible for the deaths of 20,000 of his fellow Cubans and exercised an iron fist every bit as hard as Fidel’s.

The key to assessing U.S. obsession with Cuba has to be taken in the light of its unwavering support of not just Batista but ruthless dictators around the world. There was hardly a military coup anywhere that wasn’t secretly funded by the CIA.

Typically, democratically elected left-leaning reformers were ousted in favor of autocratic, anti-democratic tyrants:

Iran in 1953 (over oil).

Argentina in 1976 (the “dirty war” against civilians claimed 30,000 lives).

Brazil in 1964 (the American-supported coup led to 20 years of brutal military dictatorship).

Chile in 1973 (ushering in one of the most brutal regimes supported by U.S. policymakers, that of Anastasio Pinochet).

El Salvador where death squads and security forces were trained and armed by U.S. special forces and at Georgia’s School of the Americas (95 percent of the 70,000 killed were victims of U.S.-backed government forces).

Greece where the liberal Prime Minister Papandreou was overthrown in a CIA-backed coup (led to seven more years of harsh military rule).

Guatemala where, in 1954, a democratically elected Jacobo Arbenz was ousted in a coup organized by the CIA (led to 40 years of civil war and the deaths of more than 200,000, most of whom were indigenous peoples).

Nicaragua, where in 1979, the CIA recruited, trained and funded an army of mercenaries intended to overthrow the Sandinista government which had just ousted Anastasio Somoza (whose 43 years of absolute rule was abetted by close ties to the U.S. and the unimaginable brutality of his National Guard).

And we are expected to believe our leaders who tell us that our long history of hostility to Cuba is based on the high moral principles of our foreign policy?

I’m sorry but anyone who believes this fable is either woefully uninformed or blinded by the jingoistic rhetoric of the same folks who brought us Vietnam ... and Afghanistan.

McGehee is a lifelong activist who settled here in 1973 and lives in Palouse with his wife, Katherine. His work life has varied from bartender to university instructor to wrecking yard owner.