The year 2022 began with new actions by the United States against Cuba, as part of the criminal blockade it has maintained for almost six decades against the Cuban people in an attempt to asphyxiate it economically.
By María Josefina Arce
The year 2022 began with new actions by the United States against Cuba, as part of the criminal blockade it has maintained for almost six decades against the Cuban people in an attempt to asphyxiate it economically. Hence, the affected sector is tourism, the driving force of our country's economy.
Recently, the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department imposed a fine of 91,000 dollars on the digital lodging platform Airbnb for accepting guests in the Greater Antilles and violating the economic siege.
According to the government entity, the tourist company accepted payments from Americans who traveled to the Caribbean country outside the twelve categories authorized by Washington.
Since 2015 the American company presented its services in Cuba, but the scope of its business has been damaged by the measures adopted from 2017 to 2021 by then President Donald Trump, and maintained under the current administration of Joe Biden.
Tourism has over the decades been heavily impacted by hostile U.S. policy. In the 2020-2021 period, the impact on this sector has been of more than 367 million 304 thousand dollars.
It has faced damages to important areas related to travel, services, operations and logistical assurance, decisive for its proper functioning.
As part of the escalation against Cuba, in 2017, months after arriving at the White House, Trump shielded himself in alleged sonic attacks against U.S. diplomats in Havana to issue an unjustified travel alert to Cuban territory.
However, months of investigations by both U.S. and Cuban scientists showed that there was no evidence of those alleged attacks.
But in 2018 Trump returned to the charge and urged to reconsider travel to Cuba to U.S. citizens who fall into one of the twelve categories authorized to visit us, resorting again to the alleged existence of "serious risks to their safety and security".
In fact, Americans see their right to travel freely violated, since the framework of laws that make up the blockade prevent them from visiting us as tourists and getting to know more about our culture, history, architecture and gastronomy.
The ban on the arrival of U.S. cruise ships on Cuban soil and the restrictions on flights are also part of Washington's plans to prevent the entry of foreign currency into our country, which is largely destined for important areas such as health and education.
The United States seeks to asphyxiate Cuba economically and, through the so many times condemned blockade, attacks essential sectors that contribute to its progress such as tourism, which is also a bridge between nations.
