Deluded foreigners are blind to the reality of Cuba’s wretched regime

It is not for nothing that communist Cuba sells itself with the boleros of the pre-Revolutionary period. If North Korea had charm and salsa and innuendo and beaches, a lot of politically naïve people might also be advocating its merits. The architecture, the landscape and the people of Cuba are famously charming, and the stories of Che Guevara remain a popular constant for a part of the Left that may resent having to shift in response to changing times.

There isn’t otherwise any logic to the Left’s continued support for the regime. The claim by the Cuban Solidarity Campaign to support the Cuban people’s right to self-determination is confused. The call for the US to keep its “hands off Cuba” ignores the fact that this is precisely what the US has been doing for nearly 70 years. Cuba also urgently needs help from its neighbour, where millions of its former citizens now live in exile and would earnestly like to assist.

Politics of elsewhere

News of Cuba’s desperation, however, has led some to believe that the island’s liberation from an oppressive government could finally be near. The collapse in its relations with Venezuela in January after the arrest of Nicolás Maduro deprived Cuba of oil, and the absence of food, electricity and water is propelling its population towards starvation.

Millions of Cubans have long been anticipating liberation, even if in vox pop videos made by the BBC they talk of their loyalty to the government. (Surely the BBC understands that people living in a police state cannot talk openly of their real opinions for fear of being reported to authorities, which would lead them to lose the only advantage they may conceivably have?)