With Cuba Embargo, U.S. Isolates Itself

A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford

To obtain a downloadable MP3 copy of this commentary visit the BA Radio archive page.

"When it comes to its embargo against Cuba, the United States is a moral and legal leper."

The U.S. corporate media bubble vastly distorts the way Americans see the world, and their country's place in it. Not only do the corporate media attempt to portray the United States as the center of the human universe; they also create the public perception that the rest of the planet believes the U.S. deserves to be top dog - that America is morally qualified to be the arbiter of world affairs. To sustain this fantasy, the corporate media edit out realities that do not conform to their story-line: that the world is eager to follow the United States lead in international affairs.

Nowhere is this hoax on the American people more blatant than in U.S. corporate media coverage of all news related to Cuba. That's why very few Americans know that virtually the entire planet opposes the U.S. embargo against Cuba, as a violation of international law and the United Nations charter. For the 17^th year in a row, the United Nations General Assembly, the forum in which every nation gets an equal vote, declared with virtually one voice that the U.S. should end its 46-year economic blockade of Cuba. The U.S. coalition-of-the-willing was comprised of only Israel and the tiny Pacific island nation of Palau, population 21,000. Micronesia and the Marshall Islands abstained from voting, while 185 countries - virtually the entirety of humanity - condemned the U.S. embargo.

"The U.S. coalition-of-the-willing was comprised of only Israel and the tiny Pacific island nation of Palau, population 21,000."

In the history of the United Nations, there is no clearer and more consistent example over time of one nation's isolation from rest of the human community on an important question of international law. And that includes Israel, the other habitual flaunter of laws among nations. America's allies in the 27-member European bloc rejected the embargo in no uncertain terms, as "contrary to common accepted rules of international trade." The Group of 77, which actually represents 132 nations, declared that U.S. policy towards Cuba "severely threaten[s] the freedom of trade and investment."

Far from being the moral standard bearer in world affairs, when it comes to its embargo against Cuba, the United States is a moral and legal leper whose violations of international law go unpunished only because it is the biggest economic and military power on Earth. The consensus among nations is all but complete: the U.S. has violated the rights of the rest of the world community to trade with a sovereign nation, Cuba, that has committed no wrongs against the international order. It is not Cuba that is isolated, but the United States.

But the U.S. corporate media don't think what goes on at the United Nations is newsworthy unless a U.S. president is addressing the world body or the issue involves Israel. As a result, Americans are crippled in their ability to assess their standing in the world, by a media that censures out vital information, and displays utter contempt for the opinions of mankind.

For Black Agenda Radio, I'm Glen Ford.

BAR executive editor Glen Ford can be contacted at Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com.

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