Ricardo Pascoe Pierce
Ukraine and Cuba have something in common, defined by their geographic location and internal politics. They are hostage states because of their geographies and national circumstances. In a world of recurring conflicts between superpowers, being the “near neighbor” to either means geopolitical problems and challenges for their respective governments.
Cuba and Ukraine are pieces in the decades-long chess conflict and struggle between the United States and Russia for supremacy and dominance. The Cuban revolution and the support it received from the Soviet Union made the island a priority piece in the confrontation between those two nations, almost leading to a nuclear conflict that would have affected the whole world.
Today, Ukraine represents a possible military confrontation between Russia, Europe, and the United States. Between them, they have armed that territory with enough weapons to cause a military hecatomb with unforeseeable consequences for the rest of the world.
What do these two territories, apparently the object of desire and confrontation of the superpowers, represent?
They are territories condemned by their geographical location due to their proximity to one of the two superpowers. Thus, being in that proximity to one of the powers, but ideologically and politically allied to the enemy of its neighbor, makes them the object of manipulation and use for the struggle of geopolitical and military world hegemony. Both are also territories that wish to define their historical path without the intervention of the violent and reckless superpowers.
Cuba’s leaders have reiterated its aspiration to be a socialist island and part of the vanguard of the world proletarian revolution, even without having consulted its people on the matter. Thus it justified its strategic alliance with the Soviet Union when that country was socialist. Despite the collapse of socialism and the emergence of Russia, today, this alliance between these countries persists. So much so that last week, Russia and Cuba renewed and expanded the agreements of their political-military partnership. Right on the border with the United States.
Ukraine, on the other hand, a country bordering Russia, looks to Europe and the United States to be its strategic political and military ally. The majority of its population aspires to be a representative democracy. Ukraine is even contemplating joining NATO, a military partnership project that has Putin’s Russia trembling. So much so that Putin is weighing the option of invading Ukraine to prevent this strategic partnership of Ukraine with the West.
It is possible to include Hong Kong in the territories condemned for their aspirations for self-determination and their geographical location, which today faces the voracity and territorial aspiration of the Chinese dragon. But this small city lacks a strategic ally close at hand and ready to defend it.
The outcome of the conflict in Ukraine will depend on the firmness of its strategic allies. In any case, the Russia-West confrontation over Ukraine will inevitably keep the conflict alive for many years into the future. Just as with Cuba.
Thanks to Marilú Martínez Fisher for the idea for this article.
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