By Dana Flores & Patricia Morales
Back in February, the United States (and other allies) sent humanitarian aid to Venezuela to help the people there who are starving. Maduro, the dictator there would not allow any aid to enter his country.
At the same time as he was denying food and medicine to his own people, a ship of aid to Cuba, who had recently had a hurricane, was loaded to help Cuba.
How could Venezuela, a country that was starving, help Cuba and what does this say about their relationship?
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said that the plans to ship humanitarian aid to Venezuela were part of an attempt at “imperialist intervention.” From his point of view, the United States will only help in Venezuela to help get richer. It is clear that he does not like the United States, but what interest does Cuba have in Venezuela?
The people of Venezuela and especially the military still seem to support Maduro. Florida Senator Marco Rubio has said, “They are loyal… because the Cubans are spying on them. The Cuban intelligence agencies quickly pick up any of these military officers who are being disloyal or expressing doubts – and they are arrested.”
Rubio is of Cuban descent. Therefore, the Cuban government wants to keep Maduro in power in Venezuela.
Cuba is under sanctions from the United States as well as many other free countries. Therefore, it is likely that they want to keep Venezuela as a trading partner, especially since they have a great deal of oil. They can trade more easily with another dictatorship than with the free world.
The relationship between Cuba and Venezuela can be beneficial to both countries. However, it can be bad for the people who live in those countries.
From Cuba’s point of view, America is only helping to influence that country because we are imperialists, and they are there because they share a cultural heritage against U.S. intervention.
However, it is hard to imagine what America could get out of a country of starving people, who need billions of dollars of infrastructure, and who only want some freedom and bare minimum essentials of life.
