EDIT: Correction, I was banned from Lemmy Zip, the confusion stems from my inability to see Lemmy Zip communities in the search anymore leading me to think it was Lemmy ML which has a community of the same name.

  • FiniteBanjo@feddit.onlineOP
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    15 days ago

    Right now, Egypt is full of internal struggles, including groups which are supplied weapons by Iran. The state of Egypt is allied with the west and is actively participating against Iran. Likewise, I don’t associate Palestine with the militant Hamas. The closest thing to one of my examples being part of the state would be the politically fractured Lebanon, but the ones receiving direct militant support from the eastern bloc only manage a small part of it.

    As for the “simping” allegation, can you come up with another solution with zero bloodshed? Can you think of an outcome with bloodshed that is genuinely better for it? Because I can’t. Best bet for Cubans is to weather out the storm that is the Trump admin. Become a part of the scenery.

    • PugJesus@piefed.socialM
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      15 days ago

      Right now, Egypt is full of internal struggles, including groups which are supplied weapons by Iran. The state of Egypt is allied with the west and is actively participating against Iran. Likewise, I don’t associate Palestine with the militant Hamas. The closest thing to one of my examples being part of the state would be the politically fractured Lebanon, but the ones receiving direct militant support from the eastern bloc only manage a small part of it.

      Most people would say “to [countries]” meaning “to the government of [countries]” rather than “to the region”, especially since the context is explicitly the governments of China and Iran supplying others.

      Not saying you’re incorrect (though Egypt is not particularly filled with armed internal struggles last I checked), but that the wording definitely has implications that are easily read a different way than you meant.

      As for the “simping” allegation, can you come up with another solution with zero bloodshed? Can you think of an outcome with bloodshed that is genuinely better for it? Because I can’t. Best bet for Cubans is to weather out the storm that is the Trump admin. Become a part of the scenery.

      Weathering the storm is different from working towards good relations with the US. Cuba has extended numerous olive branches, and at some point, we have to accept that it’s not Cuba which needs to change course with regards to US-Cuban relations.

      The issue of their domestic governance problems is… separate.

      • FiniteBanjo@feddit.onlineOP
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        15 days ago

        Honestly it would be nice if things were that simple, if the eastern bloc were only funneling weapons into their allies, but nope they’re shipping guns and bombs into every nation they can in an attempt to install autocratic loyalists across the Middle East, Asia, South America, and I expect Africa soon.

        That’s the real problem is they’re already waging war on the west.

        Weathering the storm is different from working towards good relations with the US. Cuba has extended numerous olive branches, and at some point, we have to accept that it’s not Cuba which needs to change course with regards to US-Cuban relations.

        And there have been high points and low points in the US-Cuban relationship which has recently worsened as USA tightened the Embargo under the 2nd Trump admin and now the Cubans are literally in the news article that comment is under cheering for literal War with the USA as the Castro family declares they are ready and willing to fight.

        And all I’m saying is:

        They don’t need to have a war. They don’t need to be fighting for the Chinese, for the Russians, the fucking Iranians for goodness sake. Cuba could just give trump a proverbial handy by agreeing not to militarize and help USA secure the surrounding waters, trade would return, and wait for the demented old fuck to fall asleep and forget about them. In a couple of years it would all return to as if nothing had happened.

        • PugJesus@piefed.socialM
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          15 days ago

          Honestly it would be nice if things were that simple, if the eastern bloc were only funneling weapons into their allies, but nope they’re shipping guns and bombs into every nation they can in an attempt to install autocratic loyalists across the Middle East, Asia, South America, and I expect Africa soon.

          … I’m talking about your wording.

          They don’t need to have a war. They don’t need to be fighting for the Chinese, for the Russians, the fucking Iranians for goodness sake. Cuba could just give trump a proverbial handy by agreeing not to militarize and help USA secure the surrounding waters, trade would return, and wait for the demented old fuck to fall asleep and forget about them. In a couple of years it would all return to as if nothing had happened.

          Do you think Trump would accept that? Do you think Trump would limit himself to that? Especially with the Iran War looking less-than-successful? Do you think Trump, the knuckle-dragging fascist cocksucker, would take that as anything but a sign of weakness on the part of Cuba?

          Appeasement is rightly condemned as a fool’s errand when Russia is concerned; don’t fall for the campist trap of applying double-standards to international politics based on whose team colors the current autocrat is wearing.

          • FiniteBanjo@feddit.onlineOP
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            15 days ago

            Trump put Maduro on trial, got gifted a second hand peace prize, and promptly forgot Venezuela existed. He’s not a complicated man.

            Obviously the situations on both fronts are more nuanced than that, with Venezuelan VP being open to negotiation with US oil executives who have been operating in the region for a long time, but the important part is that not only can things not worsen for the Cubans by trading one world power’s protection for another but US citizens will not stand for a permanent occupation of Cuba, and if the GOP tries to hold power past their terms then it will be all of our problems together.

            Russia wants to expand borders. The USA does not, it’s just a sick partisan fantasy of the red ties.

            • PugJesus@piefed.socialM
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              15 days ago

              Trump put Maduro on trial, got gifted a second hand peace prize, and promptly forgot it existed. He’s not a complicated man.

              The year isn’t even over yet, much less Trump’s term.

              Yes, please remember that Maduro’s kidnapping, the kidnapping of a sovereign head of fucking state, happened earlier this year.

              Obviously the situations on both fronts are more nuanced than that, with Venezuelan VP being open to negotiation with US oil executives who have been operating in the region for a long time, but the important part is that not only can things not worsen for the Cubans by trading one world power’s protection for another

              Whose protection are they trading for? They’ve been aligned with China since the 90s and Russia since Putin’s first election.

              Abandoning their meagre current alliances for the prospect of throwing themselves at the mercy of an American political machine which has no concept of negotiation at present seems immensely unwise.

              but US citizens will not stand for a permanent occupation of Cuba,

              That’s not much comfort to the thousands of Cubans who will die in the process.

              and if the GOP tries to hold power past their terms then it will be all of our problems together.

              I don’t think “It’s okay, because it’ll either improve if Americans do the right thing (after doing the wrong thing 2/3 times in the past fucking decade), or else Americans will ALSO be screwed” is all that compelling an argument to Cuba. Or, for that matter, to Americans.

              Handing Trump a ‘win’ on Cuba would be a great way to strengthen his hold on low-information centrists - of which there are too many in this fucking country - and strengthen the Cuban exile community in Florida whose death-grip on American politics have royally fucked us four times and counting in my fucking lifetime alone.

              • TanteRegenbogen@feddit.org
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                15 days ago

                Hey @PugJesus. Can we also add a rule that also simping for Trump is not allowed? FiniteBanjo’s arguments sound awfully like Trump simping.

                • PugJesus@piefed.socialM
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                  15 days ago
                  1. I’m not a mod here.

                  2. It’s not Trump simping, it’s just the toxic result of decades of anti-Cuban propaganda in the US. I say this as someone who dislikes the totalitarian red fash regime of Cuba to begin with.

              • FiniteBanjo@feddit.onlineOP
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                15 days ago

                Well the USA has issued a warrant for Raul Castro so unless they want that flavor of violence they should be trying to deescalate.

                That’s not much comfort to the thousands of Cubans who will die in the process.

                I strongly believe that a voluntary deescelation of Cuba, with some public flattery and a couple small gifts, would resolve the situation with zero casualties. I think Trump is just that much of a fucking moron.

                I don’t think “It’s okay, because it’ll either improve if Americans do the right thing (after doing the wrong thing 2/3 times in the past fucking decade), or else Americans will ALSO be screwed” is all that compelling

                Right and wrong are one thing, but at some point you have to minimize harm. There is no need for war and mass death in Cuba, so we should be doing everything in our power to avoid it.

                • PugJesus@piefed.socialM
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                  15 days ago

                  Well the USA has issued a warrant for Raul Castro so unless they want that flavor of violence they should be trying to deescalate.

                  How did de-escalation work for Iran and Venezuela, again? How did it work for Palestine? Lebanon?

                  Why will it work for Cuba when it’s failed in literally every other foreign policy crisis of this administration so far?

                  I strongly believe that a voluntary deescelation of Cuba, with some public flattery and a couple small gifts, would resolve the situation with zero casualties. I think Trump is just that much of a fucking moron.

                  I think Trump is enough of a fucking moron to think that a mission accomplished banner in Havana would be a welcome addition to the war accolades he so desperately desires and delusionally imagines he has.

                  Right and wrong are one thing, but at some point you have to minimize harm. There is no need for war and mass death in Cuba, so we should be doing everything in our power to avoid it.

                  Sure. And point number one on minimizing harm would be preventing a US invasion. And you do that by making sure the US knows an invasion will be costly.

                  Tell me, if someone had offered this exact advice about demilitarizing to Ukraine regarding Russia in 2021, what would you think of that person?

                  Don’t let the fact that Cuba is a shitty regime blind you to the fact that appeasement to dictators is a fucking sucker’s game.

                  • FiniteBanjo@feddit.onlineOP
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                    15 days ago

                    Iran absolutely has never attempted a deescalation in my lifetime. They’re the epitome of “fuck around, find out”. They sold death in every direction and now it’s come back to them 10 fold, and it’s not justice, it’s horrible.

                    Maduro might as well have put a big neon sign above his head, his most famous speech these days are his “Come Get Me” speech mocking the idea of the USA apprehending him. I think a few days before the capture he was singing a different tune, being somewhat ambiguous to US investment for oil, but if we’re drawing parallels to that event then it’s not even worth discussion because that means the conclusion for Cuba is already set in stone as well, just like Venezuela’s was months in advance, and I only hope that isn’t the case.

                    You brought up Russia’s actions, again, but I’ve already established that Russia wants to expand and the USA does not.