Last week, the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to adopt a resolution condemning the United States’ “commercial and financial embargo” against Cuba. The outcome came as no surprise. For more than sixty years, the Cuban regime has blamed its every failure—the collapsed institutions, the empty shelves and blackouts, the exhaustion of daily life—on the U.S. “blockade.” Yet this excuse falls apart under close scrutiny: “The actual trade flows, verifiable financial transactions, and effective distribution of resources on the island” tell a different story, writes Carolina Barrero in a new Journal of Democracy online exclusive.
Read the following Journal of Democracy essays to understand how Cuba’s communist dictatorship became a naked kleptocracy and why its young citizens are risking retribution to stand up against the regime.
The Cuban Embargo Does Not Exist
The Cuban regime has created a narrative of victimhood as a smoke screen for its gross incompetence and corruption. I should know. I once believed it, too.
Carolina BarreroCuba’s Mafia State
When the Soviet Union fell, Cuba did not democratize but instead was turned into a raw kleptocracy by Communist Party insiders. Decades later, this “mafia” has driven the country into the worst crisis in its history.
Juan Antonio BlancoWhy Cuba’s Student Movement Is Rising
Cuba’s dictatorship has kept student movements under its thumb for decades. But the regime’s repressive tactics have inadvertently breathed new life into a new generation of student activists. These young people are willing to fight for the island’s freedom.
Carolina Barrero
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