CUBA and The NAVY
…an insight into the Cuban Collective Trauma.
It is a very difficult task, if not an impossible one, to define with the optimal granularity for each specific case of analysis, the particular relevant components of the HyperObject that we call in our respective societies… “Collective Conscious ”.
So it is the purpose of this piece, to focus on a few key events protagonized by the American maritime service branch in the Cuban territory that have been deliberately and constantly broadcasted during the last 6 decades, year by year, in all the printed press and radio and tv stations by the demagogic, propagandistic and psychological marketing machine of the Cuban Communist Party to denigrate the image of, probably, the only formal institution capable of deploying, with a single decision, the moral, logistic and kinetic potentials required to turn the Causality Chains, not only in Cuba, but in the totality of the Latin American continent from ‘Accelerating Entropy’ to ‘Increasing order and productivity”… The US NAVY.
There have been 3 main events imprinted in the cuban shared-mental-space that will have the highest specific weight in the imminent re-conformation of the mutual relations between both nations. In the interest of time and simplicity I will make a short reflection in the meaning that they should be given from the geopolitical angle… and then probably make a case about why, and how, other strategies are sub-optimal.
Event 1: USS MAINE explosion
The USS Maine was a United States Navy ship that sank in Havana Harbor in February 1898, contributing to the outbreak of the Spanish–American War in April.
The vessel exploded and sank on the evening of 15 February 1898, killing three-quarters of her crew. In 1898, a U.S. Navy board of inquiry ruled that the ship had been sunk by an external explosion from a mine. However, some U.S. Navy officers disagreed with the board, suggesting that the ship’s magazines had been ignited by a spontaneous fire in a coal bunker. The coal used in Maine was bituminous, which is known for releasing firedamp, a mixture of gases composed primarily of flammable methane that is prone to spontaneous explosions. An investigation by Admiral Hyman Rickover in 1974 agreed with the coal fire hypothesis. The cause of her sinking remains a subject of debate.
Event 2: Desecration of cuban National Hero José Martí
The reader should, if interested, do its own research on these events... they have a abominable nature to them. The regime of Fidel Castro has made sure to proficiently promote this as a characteristic behaviour of the American Maritime Corps.
Event 3: US Naval Blockade
While this is an event that most people know, it is important to signify that the US Embargo that resulted from the US Blockade has been the Main Narrative Thread for the communist institution in the last 60 years when architecting their Internal Justification System; which basically arguments that trade regulations, and economic sanctions are the only cause for the poverty that prevails in most of the island.
While most of the Cuban population obviously understands that the Embargo can not be the only reason for their poor living conditions, they are not aware enough to internally rebut when faced with the Official Narrative. This also applies to the rest of the commies in the continent that efficiently argue about how the US has blocked Cuba from becoming a prosperous country.
A UNIQUE OPORTUNITY…
As I tried to communicate in “America is the name of a whole continent”, the USA is, in terms of international politics, mostly facing a crisis of international image and Leadership Qualia, which has been the result of hyper-structured schemes of international aid, super-formalism/bureaucratism, verticality, and a predilection for Complicated approaches to Complex problematics.
The US is also very vulnerable of engaging only with those that imitate, usually poorly… their clothing, manners and their body language. This gives the US an image of apparent cultural progress, but I would risk saying that then, these diplomatic entities are generally appreciated by Latin Millennials and Common People as institutions full of fake people pretending to be americans… that really don’t understand what the American spirit is all about. Instagram, Facebook and Youtube are there to provide enough evidence of the inefficacy. The question would then be:
Is this Failure… by Design ?
I get a chill when I think on the possibility of some of the effort done by the USA in the Latin-American arena as being nothing more than a hollow institutional hull, scaffolded by people who would, not only run in pavor at the idea of having to give their lives, or scratch a knee in the name of an American Value… let alone talking to their peers, or answering a facebook comment.
Yes… most of those representing the US in Latin America seem to be just running a Social Media operation.
Look at their shoe soles,
The Latin American soil shines in its absence.
Does Almagro cares… ?
Probably not.
Does the US cares
that Almagro doesn’t care… ?
I hope so !
…and I certainly hope that
it is just,
that Almagro doesn’t care
and not worst !
Too many times, in my wanderings around most corners of the Internet, I have seen those who have an affinity for the North American role in the History of the American Continent, be pulverized by arguments built on mistakes made by US intelligence Agencies and other Foreign Politics oriented entities… several decades ago.
Too often I have seen a “Juan Perez” arguing with a “Roberto Carlos” about how much importance the USA has in developing tech, or communications, or humanitarian help… just to see how a rebuttal pointing out to something like Iran-Contras gains the most favor from the public.
Why ?
Well… is there a Latin American nation, that has optimal diplomatic intephasing with the USA and is not continually, or at the very least, periodically dominated by corruption, and the successes are not clear enough to convince people to move into the avenue of american-led progress ?
Isn’t it that the USA has been focused on the fight against terrorism, and it will not be until Maduro, or one of Castro’s descendants, buys a centrifuge and decide to enrich uranium… that the South American holocaust will become truly salient ?
Reality is that COVID-19 is here, we don't have to wait to discover that Maduro has been trading Gold with Iran for Uranium-235.
I would suggest to:
Buy the Cruises that are about to be sold for Scrap and turn them in to a NAVY run set of navigating hospitals, that can provide medical services for other countries and that can support any medical capacities in the USA itself.
The USA should focus on orienting their Military forces into a more holistic, dualistic mode of operation, in which military and logistic coordination capabilities and readiness can be maintained, while getting extra value from whatever the budgetary energy is by adding humanitarian functions to the military machine.
This new approach to Military Strategy would create a social function that will surely become a platform in which the havoc created by PTSD can be alleviated.
The Lasting Peace for the Warrior can only be found by proving to the others that being enemies is... only Optional.
Muchas gracias.
