Dear Editor,

The recent condemnation by former Caricom leaders regarding US policy towards Cuba, labelling it “economic warfare”, is a masterclass in selective morality. While these leaders are quick to cite international law and economic hardship, their silence on the internal state of the Cuban people is deafening.

It is high time we call out the hypocrisy of a Caribbean leadership that decries external pressure while ignoring the systemic internal repression of its neighbour. Where is the condemnation for the mass incarceration of activists, the imprisonment of pastors for their faith, and the silencing of artists who dare to dream of a different Cuba?

The reality is that Caricom’s “solidarity” often feels less like principled diplomacy and more like a transaction. For decades our region has benefited from the labour of Cuban professionals — doctors and teachers whose services are exported by the Havana regime. While we praise these missions, we ignore that these professionals are often used as tools of “medical diplomacy”, with their wages allegedly largely confiscated by a State that leaves its own citizens in crumbling infrastructure and food lines.

As Jamaicans, we must be especially wary. We are still untangling ourselves from the polarised legacy of the 1970s. The Michael Manley-Edward Seaga era, defined by ideological warfare and the flirtation with democratic socialism that veered towards authoritarianism, should remain a history lesson, not a blueprint.

The rhetoric we are hearing now feels like a dangerous echo of that era. We must caution against any ideological drift that prioritises “revolutionary” brotherhood over the fundamental human rights of the Cuban people. We desire a Caribbean defined by true freedom — not just from external embargoes, but from internal dictatorships and the threat of socialist takeovers that historically lead to economic ruin and the suppression of the individual.

If Caricom leaders want to be taken seriously on the world stage, they must stop being apologists for a regime that denies its people the very democratic freedoms we cherish in Jamaica.

Francesca Tavares

Attorney-at-law

francescatavres@yahoo.com