USA, Mexico, Cuba – neighbors in the stormy or calm Gulf

by Samvel Z. Harutyunyan

Awful. Simply awful. Simply tragic and so depressive. Such are the impressions from the Mexican Gulf countries, which were attacked by the elements in August – September of 2017. Multiple storms, which at first washed, then washed away, and then flooded these heavenly Caribbean shores, have gradually passed into another tragedy – the earthquake in Mexico. All of this makes you think about almost the apocalyptic character of these events. But what is most remarkable, is that the different countries of this region, that are neighbors in the everyday reality, have the absolutely different chances and possibilities to overcome the consequences of the tragedy. This is even making it more frightening, when the hurricanes stop and you’re standing face-to-face with their results. Somebody’s looking for his family members, somebody searches for his friends, and somebody has nothing to look for – everything around is already washed out or destroyed – no house, no neighborhood, just debris all around you. The boats are floating along the streets, where the cars were running previously. And then you see that the people behave differently in such cases – despite the general attempt to gather all together and move further, there will always appear the human beings (one could never name them ‘men’), which will even get a profit from the tragedy. The marauders. But this all is a trifle on the background of most serious challenges and problems, that these people will face. Lack of money and poverty in this region is the real shock.
Cuba. Once the American satellite, the largest Caribbean island with its population gave its votes to Fulgencio Batista, a military man in the early 1940’s, who betrayed his supporters (coming from the working environment, he was backed then by the Communist Party of Cuba), and later he has made the Cuban economy totally dependable on the US investments, but what was specially fatal for the island – that these investments were made not exactly by the US government, but by the most influential Mafia clans, such as Capone, Genovese, Anastasia, Luciano families, and many others. You might have heard about the Havana Conference of 1946 and many other conferences and meetings, conducted by the US Mafia in Cuba. It was becoming more and more difficult to quarrel with the law in America, thus Cuba was the right and the ‘quiet’ place for those tough and rich guys. A bribery on all levels was replaced by the systematic corruption, bringing more and more ‘dirty’ capital to the island. To describe the results of the Mafia activities in Cuba one could write down the multiple sheets of paper for several days. We don’t need it here. Because we all know the results. I could just remind you, that JFK was also admitting, that “the United States was responsible for maintaining the Fulgencio Batista dictatorship in Cuba and the humiliating economic colonization of the island in the 1950s”.
But it was too late. Therefore, it’s a high time today to analyze those events and correct all mistakes, that are the subject to correction. At least, stretch your strong and mighty hand to the island, thus excluding the other hands appearance in the region.
Mexico.  According to Forbes, “Mexico is the United States’ second largest export market, third largest overall trading partner, and the top country of origin for immigrants living in the country (USA)”.  There are 33.7 millions of Hispanics of Mexican origin resided in America, consisting 11% of the entire US population. Although there is such a high dependence of the Mexican economy from the USA, there are also many things that could be done together, including further investment of the Mexican economy by the United States, the creation of more and more new joint enterprises on its territory and, consequently, new working places. The more you support the potential immigrants in their own country, the more chances they won’t appear in your country, thus dragging their problems with themselves and thus making them yours at this time. And finally – Mexican culture and religion are not foreign or unfamiliar for the most of Americans. It would definitely be easier to help part of them integrate into the US society, than adopt, fit and try to integrate the Muslim refugees, that are seeking to pave their own path to America. They don’t even try to integrate, they just bring their culture and religion with them, making you pay attention to them and later learn their habits and traditions, that have nothing common with yours. Make your choice.
Now the United States. The country constantly faces numerous and various international issues, including the North Korean ‘rocket man’ and the Islamic fundamentalism, the international terrorism, an issue, which seems to have almost bent the whole of Europe. America is a country, that was created and made great by the immigrants, thus it’s a high time to determine, which countries and peoples are closer to it historically and geographically, and make the right choice. When you support your neighbors by all available means, thus making the whole world know, that there’re no weak points back in your region, you can be sure that no one will appear again close to your borders and put you in front of a choice. Help your neighbors and thus make yourself stronger than ever. Don’t waste your time and do it, while there is the time and opportunity to fix common problems and common goals for the region. And make that region interconnected again.