“Black Lives Matter condemns the U.S. federal government’s inhumane treatment of Cubans, and urges it to immediately lift the economic embargo. This cruel and inhumane policy, instituted with the explicit intention of destabilizing the country and undermining Cubans’ right to choose their own government, is at the heart of Cuba’s current crisis… The people of Cuba are being punished by the U.S. government because the country has maintained its commitment to sovereignty and self-determination. United States leaders have tried to crush this Revolution for decades. Instead of international amity, respect, and goodwill, the U.S. government has only instigated suffering for the country’s 11 million people – of which 4 million are Black and Brown. Cuba has historically demonstrated solidarity with oppressed peoples of African descent, from protecting Black revolutionaries like Assata Shakur through granting her asylum, to supporting Black liberation struggles in Angola, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau and South Africa. Now, we look to President Biden to end the embargo, something Barack Obama called for in 2016. This embargo is a blatant human rights violation and it must come to an end” – Black Lives Matter via Instagram.

This is fucking stupid. Whatever damage you think the US embargo is causing to the Cuban people – and there’s plenty of room to have that argument – at the end of the day it’s their shitty, incompetent authoritarian government that brought it upon them. They only “historically demonstrated solidarity with oppressed peoples of African descent” and supported “Black liberation struggles” because that was how the Soviets and Cubans conducted proxy wars against the then-disintegrating European colonial empires in the 60s and 70s. Angolans and Mozambicans got their independence, great, but don’t act like it was out of simple altruism that Cuba pitched in. The regime there doesn’t deserve anything resembling praise at all. Who gives a shit about their healthcare system? Why focus on the good they’ve done when it’s far outweighed by the bad?

Change some nouns and details here. Does Viktor Lukashenko deserve praise because nobody litters in Minsk? Is Vladimir Putin’s gun control policy great? Is it easier to get a good night’s sleep in Budapest without a vibrant LGBT club scene? Even if they’re “true” do they matter against an overall state of repression and incompetence. Communism is fundamentally flawed and cannot be redeemed. It fails everywhere it is introduced – either through a collapse like in the Soviet Union or through a gradual transition into centrally-planned capitalism like in China. It’s a dead end.

Black Lives Matter releases statement blaming U.S. for unrest in Cuba, praising Communist regime | Just The News https://t.co/wkf97Ry0hu

— John Solomon (@jsolomonReports) July 15, 2021

I really thought Solomon was pushing some fake Russian account called “Black Livings Matter, Da!” or something, but no this really is legitimate. This disabused me of the notion that when MAGA trolls call BLM a “Marxist organization” they’re just being drama queens as usual, and it’s pretty goddamned disappointing to see that they’re actually right. Of course Black Lives Matter is a noble ideal. Black Americans asserting themselves politically and fighting against the systems of racist suppression is something I’m always down to obstruct my hateful White brethren from pushing back against. We Caucasians all have to do better to right the wrongs of the last four centuries. Handing bullets to the bad Caucasians isn’t going to do it.

Maybe it’s not my place to judge who they support and who they don’t. I’m sure this comes across as white-splaining, but the line needs to be drawn somewhere. Read a fucking room. Fox News is going to go wild with this if they haven’t already. The “official” Black Lives Matter faceplanted badly here and I don’t think they should be taken seriously at all anymore.

UPDATE 7/15/21 10:51 AM EST: “Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel for the first time is offering some self-criticism while saying that government shortcomings in handling shortages and other problems played a role in this week’s protests” the AP reports in an article that contains zero mention of Díaz-Canel blaming US embargoes or sanctions for this shitshow, which further underscores the stupidity of acting like this is all the American government’s fault.