Washington, December 15 (Prensa Latina) The New York Times (NYT) called once again for a change in the sanctions policy kept by the United States against Cuba, in an editorial that headed today its opinion page. After having published six similar texts from last October to November on the relations between the two countries, the New York rotary puts the focus now on the economic landscape of the Caribbean nation, which is undergoing a government-driven process of update and transformation.
In its article “Cuba’s Economy at a Crossroads”, the NYT, whose columnist Ernesto Londoño recently visited Havana in a work-trip, describes this ‘era of transformation for the economy of the island’, in which citizens have begun to ‘create livelihoods that are not fully subject to state control’.
It also notes the emergence of ‘an intense debate on the future of the economy of the country’, which would point towards a more sustainable management in this area, without compromising the stability of the country or raise inequality.
However, NYT sustains that so far ‘the (US President Barack) Obama Administration has observed the reforms with skepticism’ and ‘has done relatively little to start lifting the network of sanctions United States has imposed on Cuba for decades.’
The newspaper suggests that the US president could influence the Cuban economic ecosystem, where there are already almost 500,000 employees of the private sector ‘to relax sanctions by taking steps that the executive branch can take unilaterally’ and, similarly, ‘collaborate with the growing number of lawmakers who support the expansion of trade relations with Cuba.’
Moreover, NYT says that ‘the White House could start the process by eliminating Cuba from the State Department’s list of countries that support terrorist organizations.’
Although in its opinion the policy of changes in the Cuban economy ‘is progressing slowly,’ the influential newspaper seems to have something clear: ‘the continuous antagonism from Washington’ does not contribute to streamline the process.
According to the latest reports, the US blockade against Cuba -imposed more than half a century ago- has caused economic losses worth a 112,534,000,000 dollars and untold human damage due to restrictions affecting services such as health and education.
