Heartbreak Ridge was on TV tonight. A typical Clint Eastwood film. It ends with the US invasion of the island of Grenada. I can remember the invasion. At the time I lived beside somebody from Grenada. We would often catch the same train to work. I jokingly asked her if she had been involved in the revolution. She whispered to me “No but my cousin led it”.
The film story follows the reason Reagan gave for the invasion – the island is supposedly occupied by Cuban soldiers. There were less than a thousand Cubans on the island. It got me thinking about the US reaction to Cuba. What is it, other than their politics, that makes the US so afraid of them? Why is there an embargo? Is Cuba going to invade the USA?
Above any other international interventions the attitude of the USA toward Cuba is the one that gives the clearest view of the heart of US international policy. Irrespective of the right and wrong of the situation the decision will always be the one that favours the USA first. Don’t imagine we have a special relationship that exempts us from that treatment.