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“US policy of hostility toward Cuba has failed”: Salim Lamrani to VOA

The Economic War Against Cuba: A Historical and Legal Perspective on the U.S. Blockade

Rather than isolating Cuba, economic sanctions have isolated the United States

Salim Lamrani, author of The Economic War Against Cuba and Cuba, the Media, and the Challenge of Impartiality, talks to The Voice of America about Cuba, the US Embargo, and Obama

Voice of America: Let’s go back a bit in history. There has already been more than half a century of diplomatic rupture between the United States and Cuba. Can you remind us of the key dates in the history of this blockade between the two countries?

Salim Lamrani: It is worth recalling that the dispute between the United States and Cuba can be traced back to the nineteenth century when the island was a primary objective of US foreign policy. The Founding Fathers had always seen Cuba as a natural appendage to be added to the American Union. Thomas Jefferson spoke of this as early as 1805. We are also aware of the “ripe fruit” theory of John Quincy Adams.

In the twentieth century, during the island’s Republican period, the US supported the military dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista and opposed Fidel Castro’s rise to power well before 1959. Allow me to quote Allen Dulles, then director the CIA who, in December of 1958, said: “We must prevent Castro’s victory….”

Read the rest of the interview here: Lamrani_Voice of America Interview

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