Cuba vs. USA: the Cuban People Are Always the Losers
By Monica Baro Sanchez (El Toque)
HAVANA TIMES – There are many people outside of Cuba rejoicing at the news that US president Donald Trump will lift the waiver on Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, place travel restrictions on US citizens for non-family related reasons and reduce remittances to the island.
They say they are so interested in profound changes being made in Cuba, so interested in Cuban citizens finally having their basic rights and freedoms recognized, so interested in Cuba becoming a democratic and just republic. They should come to live in Cuba and defend these sublime interests from here.
I don’t agree with most of the property expropiations that happened post-1959. I understand that compensation for many naturalized Cuban-Americans and Cuban descendants born in the US for all the damages the Revolution caused them would be fair; but damages that were the result of political extremism, not the implementation of social policies.
It bothers me that today militarymen and Party leaders live in many of the homes seized in the ‘60s, who like the pigs in British writer’s George Orwell’s prophetic work “Animal Farm”, have gone to live a comfortable life in the human’s house and have become the new ruling class, while the rest of the farm animals, who formed part of the rebellion against the humans, face hardship.
I’m aware of the pain that many Cubans or Cuban-Americans who mostly live in the US still feel, just like many Cubans who live in Cuba are still hurting.
Those who lost their properties aren’t the only victims of the mistakes, arbitrary measures, injustice, that have taken place here in the past 60 years. And with their properties, their jobs, their rights. People are also hurting after having lost relatives to the sea or jungle, in attempts to reach the US, or in a war in a foreign country, or in many other dark moments in our history.
However, an eye for an eye doesn’t work. Less so when the real motive isn’t to recover any damages but to take advantage of this existing damage, of people’s pain, of their very understandable bitterness, for purposes that aren’t at all noble.
Donald Trump’s administration isn’t interested in compensating US citizens of Cuban origin who suffered expropriations in the ‘60s, it isn’t interested in serving justice, much less in helping Cubans on the island. Trump is a businessman above all else, and he is looking to protect his own interests.
The speech that John Bolton, US National Security Advisor, gave to announce the sanctions against Cuba (and others against Venezuela and Nicaragua) took place in Miami, on April 17th, within the context of the 58th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs invasion. The audience was mostly made up of Cuban-Americans who took part in this invasion. According to Bolton, these new measures were taken in order to “honor their bravery” and to stand up to “the demons of socialism and communism in this hemisphere.”
“You can’t get rid of cancer without first suffering,” a 78-year-old retired banker said, who was one of the invaders and quoted in the Washington Post; which associated the Trump administration’s language with the language used over thirty years ago, during the Cold War.
But, in fact, this policy isn’t even directed at the Cuban government. People living in Cuba are the target because they are the foundation of this system, and the hope of the policy is that the system will collapse if they attack its foundations. On May 2nd, the waiver on Title III of the 1996 Helms-Burton Act (Freedom Act) will be lifted, which has been suspended for over 22 years by different US presidents.
It won’t benefit those who suffered expropiations without also affecting the interests of European companies (hotel chains for example) who have invested in confiscated property, the already fragile and heavily indebted Cuban economy, and the 11 million Cubans who live on the island.
The European Union (EU) soon leaped into action. Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and Cecilia Malmstrom, European Commissioner for Trade, warned in a joint statement that “the EU would assess every opportunity it has to protect its legitimate rights, including its rights at the WTO and the use of the EU’s Blockade Stature.”
And: they added: “Cited Statute prohibits the execution of US court rulings relating to Title III of the Helms-Burton Act within the EU and allows EU companies that are being sued in the US to recover, in EU courts, any damages suffered as a result of legal proceedings that begin in the US.”
However, regardless of how this conflict plays out between Europe and the US, news about the lawsuits that will begin once Title III of the Helms-Burton Act kicks in also serves to create an atmosphere of uncertainty and instability, chasing away potential foreign investors. On April 17th, Bolton made it clear that these measures were just the beginning.
With remittances being restricted to 1,000 USD per trimester, and travel restrictions on US citizens who aren’t visiting the island for family-related purposes, they are not only attacking the country’s hard currency revenue.
While Cuban emigres don’t normally send their relatives living in Cuba more than 1,000 USD every three months, it is normal for different artists, filmmakers, journalists, activists, who work independently of the State, as well as private entrepreneus, to bring funds from the US to develop their projects or investments in the form of remittances. When it comes down to it, empowering civil society is one of the most important things the US government is attacking.
With this series of measures, in a context of economic crisis kicking in, when basic foodstuffs are in greater shortage every day, when Cubans “have to always be ready for the worse”, according to the Cuban Communist Party’s First Secretary’s recent speech, it is clear that the US is returning to its old strategy which the blockade has embodied since the early ‘60s.
Putting pressure on the Cuban people to trigger the uprising against the government they’ve been waiting for so long is a strategy which has proven itself to be ineffective for over half a century. It has been of better use to the Cuban government which has used it as an excuse to curtail personal freedoms, impose censorship and mask unresolved social problems. It hasn’t served for the Cuban people to free themselves of its yoke.
If former US president Barack Obama chose to change this out-dated strategy when he was in office, it wasn’t because he was the cool guy who Cubans and socialist utopias liked, but rather because he was a bit more intelligent and astute. Obama was also interested in change for Cuba, of course. However, he probably didn’t care if it was a socialist flag or Harry Potter’s wizarding school’s own, as long as it became a democracy.
Obama full well knew that repression would only lead to more repression, that it was better to give Cuba reasons to admire the US instead of hating it. He believed that a dialogue and bringing both societies together, in a melting pot of cultures and world visions, would generate more changes than entrenchments.
And, as the US representative, he knew how to win over the admiration of many Cubans during his official visit to the island. Cubans in Havana at the time, or who were following the news, could see how popular he was among those present and how uneasy he made Raul Castro’s government and official media.
It was because he knew how to show the Cuban people respect, it was that simple. Something that other US presidents or the Castro brothers have never showed them. Whether his projection was sincere or false is irrelevant, the fact is that it worked; although the rapprochement between both countries and the thawing process didn’t last very long, unfortunately.
However, maybe the saddest thing about all of this is that there are younger generations of Cubans, who aren’t the 80-something year olds who invaded the island in 1961, who back Trump’s strategy relating to Cuba and are reproducing a line of thinking, a discourse, which effectively dates back to the Cold War.
It makes perfect sense that Trump doesn’t care about the Cuban people. Trump has never presented himself as a humanist, on the contrary. However, what doesn’t make sense, or is at least incoherent, is that someone who claims to care about the civil and political rights that were usurped by the Castros, at the same time supports the economic pressure that Trump wants to impose. Since when does hunger trump censorship?
It’s very easy to pitch a people against a government, as if the island were a Roman Colisseum, and its citizens are gladiators or animals, when you don’t have to be in the middle of that fight but on the sidelines, urging them on with blows and shouting, your mouth full with a hamburger.
It’s easy, but more than anything else, it’s cowardly. Anyone who isn’t ready to experience this pressure firsthand, which is essentially poverty, hunger, the anxiety of not having anything to feed your children, the violence that poverty triggers, or isn’t willing to go out to Revolution Square holding a protest placard, doesn’t have the moral authority to defend those who are putting pressure on others.
Nobody has the right to demand of others what they themselves can’t do. But, not even the people who can put up with the pressure, or repression, and do go out to protest in public spaces, have the right to demand that others do the same, or to judge those who don’t, because they aren’t above anyone else just because they do it. Admirable yes, superior no.
Not even Cubans here should be judging those who decided to leave, and those who left shouldn’t be judging the Cubans who remain in Cuba and don’t rebel, or don’t rebel in the way they think they should be.
Somebody who defends the US government’s repressive measures against the Cuban people isn’t any different from the Cuban leader who asks these same people to make sacrifices he himself won’t. Both stances, albeit contrary to each other, seek the same thing: dominance.
One power isn’t any better than the other, none of their representatives are really concerned about social wellbeing, instead they are just looking out to protect their own interests: Donald Trump, his reelection; and the Cuban Communist Party elite, to be immortal.
On both sides of this tug of war, the Cuban people are the ones who suffer, the most vulnerable link in this chain because neither the Communist leaders, or Donald Trump, or followers of his repressive measures living abroad, are going to go hungry or risk their lives if a rebellion breaks out. They are all going to end up morbidly watching how the poor, those who can’t leave for anywhere else, kill each other, or attack each other, until something changes (nobody knows what exactly though mind you).
Who is going to compensate the victims of this long-awaited violence; whose lives are worth more than all the properties that were expropriated in Cuba? What kind of country will we become after something like this? Will this be a democratic, just and humanitarian republic? Democratic, just and humanitarian for who? Who is going to end up with the country?
It’s also very likely that the island never becomes the battleground they hope it will either. Cuban journalist Yoani Sanchez, director of independent newspaper 14ymedio has voiced her skepticism on her news program “Ventana 14”, in relation to a popular uprising. In her eyes, these economic restrictions will only drive emigration. At least, this is the historic lesson of the Special Period in the ‘90s, and it has become a very strong movement again after the immigration reform of 2013. If there’s anything Cubans know how to do in Cuba, it’s inventing, resolving and surviving.
That there are people coming to blows in stores over a packet of chicken isn’t an indicator of the Cuban people being willing to take to the streets and protest just because we have cellphones, mobile data and a Facebook account in 2019 (unlike in the ‘90s). Nobody knows for sure what a protest in Cuba could lead to. Maybe protest isn’t the way to create change, or at least not the kind of protest that the White House envisages. I don’t know.
What I do know is that I hope, with all my heart, that Cuba becomes a just and democratic republic. Of course, one day we will have to repair the damage done, forgive, heal, reconcile, tell stories, discover the truth about so many things, rebuild.
But, we will have to do as free and conscious women and men, in a context of peace and security, because it is something we have decided and not because we are being pressured from somewhere else, not because they want to turn us into hungry beasts that fight amongst ourselves in order to survive.
I believe that Cuba can be a lot better than what people who don’t care about the Cuban people’s wellbeing want Cuba to be. If governments don’t respect us, we can at least respect each other, right?
I agree with you a 100%,It is easy to write about Cuba without having living there or having experience the suffering of the Cuban people.I wonder how come european UN personalities go to Cuba for a week mingling with the government officials and its followers and then arrive to the conclussion and tell the world that everything´s right or that things are not that bad .Go and live in Cuba like a Cuban.
Most people would not dare to tell you the truth if you tell them who you are,afraid of being punished and ostracized once you leave the country and they remain there unprotected.
Down with communism and its supporters
That wasn’t a blockade; that was a “quarantine” ! lol
The Obama trip and re-opening of diplomatic ties would NEVER have occurred had San Fidel still been running the show. He fervently denounced both from his retirement.
People just don’t get it: Castrismo hated the US, much as Nazism hated Jews.
Hitler went to his death, sincerely believing that everything he had done was right, not unlike a smaller-scale “tropical” Hitler some 70+ years later.
It will take total economic collapse and mass starvation before there will be sufficient pressure put on “Castrismo” to oust it’s adherents and lackeys.
Those who support “Castrismo” most fervently are those who have never had to live a day under it!
When I was in Cuba in 1978, I remember that, yes, there were security goons (plainclothes and discreet, but very effective) outside the Habana Libre, keeping out any “ordinary” Cubans who dared approach the building.
Rosa, It would make more sense if you make you comments on the Spanish side of Havana Times. wwww.havanatimesenespanol.org
Ya veo como han reaccionado muchos al artículo de Mónica,,,algunos muy mal informados y la mayoría aciertan en todo lo q escriben.Mónica escribió mucho pero dijo poco,,,,Quien tiene la culpa de todos los males de Cuba?..Quienes son los responsables de todas las políticas fallidas del gobierno comunista?,,,Quien tiene al pueblo humillado,con miedo y con la bota puesta en la cabeza Para q ni siquiera puedan mirar al cielo en busca de la ayuda divina de Dios,,,,,Sean cinseros y vean la verdad,,,no hay más culpable q el gobierno de Cuba y sus cabecillas,,,he dicho..Basta
Because they have not other choices. If the Castro’s dictatorship fall tomorrow you would see them dancing on the street, trust me I’m Cuban, Remember when everyone argued that people in east Germany were very happy? Then when the wall came down East German were dancing on the street. Why you think the communist party is the only legal political organization in Cuba?
Your final sentence Kenny is a precise description of the brothers Castro!
Ginni, a small correction. Cuba does not practice socialism. It is hard core Stalinist communism. The regime is busily trying to persuade the innocent in the free world that it is democratic socialism. Bunkum!
Djoto, the Cuban people have never elected a Communist government in a democratic election. Would you describe a Cuban with five houses, swimming pool, tennis court, two island private retreat with swimming pool, guest house and his yacht and who with his brother paid $706 million to purchase shares in the monopoloy telephonic system as “crazy rich”? I would agree with you, for that was Fidel Castro!
Only someone who has never lived in a Cuban home with a Cuban family could possibly describe Cubans as “all the same, poor and happy and dancing.” Two things are free in Cuba – la familia and music which is the soul of the people, so of course they dance.
But just think, A Cuban Veterinary Surgeon described to me how he and his wife used all their savings to experience staying in an hotel in Varadero for three days and nights. That was following the decision made only five years ago to permit Cubans to enter hotels in their own country. In describing his experience and mixing with people from other countries, he described doing so as: “The experience of a lifetime”.
Cubans do not have choice Djoto, they have to comply with the directions of the Communist Party of Cuba under Raul Castro Ruz.
The Castro communist regime as many know uses many words incorrectly.
Dictatorships need to lie about just almost everything in it’s state controlled media which blocks everyone else.
They’re only in power forever to help themselves the selfish criminals.
Just to comment Brad that the English dictionary describes the words embargo and blockade – and they are different. That also applies in Spanish. The Castro regime (Raul is still in charge) uses the word ‘blockade’ incorrectly, as the blockade that was imposed at the time of the Cuban crises (when Fidel Castro asked Nikita Khrushchev to make an initial nuclear strike upon the US) was lifted following the removal of the nuclear weapons by Russia.
The constant bleating in these pages about the US and its apparent multitude of faults (despite its rising GDP), detracts from paying attention to the hard realities of the daily repression in Cuba. OK, set up a web site for US critics, but please don’t use these pages to divert attention away from Cuba.
sky is guilty of generalizing from the particular when claiming “a very good standard of living in the 70’s and 80’s. So one presumes that her husband’s family although not party-related, had a relationship with USSR interests. Maybe a few facts would support her claim, for example what were their monthly incomes?
However that is history, when the Cuban economy was based upon USSR support. Then for some eight years it lacked a sugar daddy, then Chavez dropped in to replace the USSR, now his chosen successor in Venezuela has achieved the highest inflation rate in world history and Cuba has yet more problems which even the ever increasing line of credit from China cannot resolve. For the communist regime, the belt is tightening, and it in turn is tightening the iron grip over the citizens, with reduced supplies to the GAESA owned shops and increased reliance upon remittances from those who succeeded in moving to the capitalist world.
Only one catch in Eastern Europe when communism fell to democracy victims were able to apply to get back properties lost to the communists. Even in Russia.
And blockade an English word means to seal off a place to prevent goods or people from entering or leaving. It’s not sealed off.
60 year of misery? My Cuban husband’s family had a very good standard of living in the 70s and 80s when both parents were working (in a factory and as a driver, so nothing party-related or priviliged). The events of the late 80s turned everything around. I can envisage many Cuban Americans will try to profit from the misery of their homeland while at the same time professing to love their country. The hypocracy is to be expected as they have been ‘contaminated’ by the neoliberalism of their adopted home. Making money and unlimited economic growth has become the holy grail. There is a middle ground that will benefit all, but some people (on both sides) are too selfish to see it. I get upset when my husband is detained by ignorant/corrupt police when we visit (hoping to extort a bribe from one of the Cubans who have ‘escaped’), when we go to visit his brother in jail because he wouldn’t snitch, when I see what the Cuban government has done to my step son’s generation (there is no respect shown towards them nor incentive for them to engage in ‘official’ work so they are forced to choose a day to day existence profiting from the black market while keeping their heads down). They are a wasted generation. But what upsets me more is the greed of America and the ugly politics it is currently presenting as decent, Christian democracy under the ‘leadership’ of a manipulative and lying s.o.b. Health care, the wealth gap, the legal/prison system (civil rights, human rights), the buying your way into a ‘good education’, the enormous carbon footprint seen as entitlement and the self-serving policies of the elite. It turns my stomach.
The U.S has confiscated more than enough money from Cuban transactions over the years to bankroll any “victims” who abandned their properties & left for the U.S. long ago. Their aim was never for justice, just control.
A well written and stimulating article on the then and now, how controlled the Cuban people are, how their neighbors spy on them and report if they are out of order to a higher level of officials, etc.
I have visited CUBA twice, the first time was seven years ago with a group of retired professionals. It was very evident how the people were repressed and
were not permitted to engage with tourists. They tried to act like they were happy.
The second visit was two years ago to explore the Western part of the Island that we were not allowed to see or visit seven years ago. I was blown away that so many Cubans had cell phones, knew where the Wi-fi was, appeared to be more relaxed and comfortable around tourists. But still you were aware of the repression re. no drug stores, are super markets, still had to get in line to get the rationed ice cream cone, etc.
Fast forward now, there are 3-5,000 Cubans in the Southern State of Chiapas, MEXICO working their way North to the USA border. It has been a long trip for them, but the Pope is sending money ($500,000) to assist churches to help them with bus transportation. It will be interesting to see when they arrive at the USA border how they will be processed for asylum with no papers??? A lot of them have relatives residing in the USA or CANADA.
America is well aware how Socialism doesn’t work anywhere and wants to support and empower countries to become democratic once again. Power and Control by the Cuban Government keeps the people repressed. Ray, keep us informed, keep writing.
You have one or two misconceptions Juan. I personally know several owners of casa particulars and a couple of paladars. The only payments they make are taxes. For an accurate description of the reality of life in Cuba, just read ‘Cuba Lifting the Veil’. Find it on the web.
The issue is that the main cause of the situation of the Cuban people (both in the island and out) is not the US government. It is the regime in Havana. That regime is not interested at all to introduce the reforms requiere to change the country (and its people) for good; they are mainly interested in maintaining power and their own privileges which are not the result of their work, but how they stole from other Cubans (and foreigners). In the last 30 years; the Cuban regime have had several opportunities to introduce serious reforms (at least in the economic sphere); but they have never been prepared to move down that road. What happened from the moment Pres. Obama visited the island (more restriction on small businesses, less political freedoms, more short detentions for dissidents, etc); is evidence of the thinking of the regime. The last paragraph of the article is full of an optimism that is not based in any realities for the Cuban people.
Your article was well written and knowledgeable. You left one simple fact that 99% of all the people that promote embracing your ideas, as expressed in the article.
Who in the hell does one think benefits from allowing Americans to send money to Cuba and visiting Cuba under the Obama scam of “interactions” with the Cuban public?
The answer is simple: The Castro Family, and their gun toting ilk. Gun control has certainly worked well for Hitler, Mao, Stalin and of course Hollywood’s Favorite, Fidel, now , hopefully a resident of hell.
This thug, when he was living, and now his family – controls and let’s not forget their entourage)
all the money that comes into Cuba.
Who do you really think owns the cars, the supermarkets, the homes, the restaurant, literally anything that requires money to operates.
Casa Particulars, which have been around for ages, always have to give the thugs their cut, paladars always give the criminal family their cut. Years ago, Raul closed down the ability for Cubans to see DVD’s of movies in Cuban homes that had been created by Cubans that placed chairs in a large room, creating a mini theatre, because he could not accurately calculate how many people went to the movie, and was
scared he wasn’t compensated properly.
One will say that the good people of Cuba can enjoy better food, with the money that is being sent? But who owns the Supermacdo?
Who owns the gas stations , that he charges incredibly high prices that he gets from another scumbag, Maduro. Forbes , years ago classified Fidel and his family of being billionaires, when a billion was a lot of money.
It’s always fashionable to regurgitate the worn out stories about how Fidel saved the day by kicking out the Mafia, and closed down the casinos.. What a joke, the Rivera, and the Hotel Nacional did indeed have casinos, about the size of a large bathroom.
Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano were literally “Cub Scouts” compared to Fidel and his Ilk..
Want to make Cuba a Democracy ? When the Castros are gone along with their thug entourage . Unfortunately this will likely take the 82nd Airborne, as Juan these people could care less about the population they have ruled for 60 plus years.
A very good article and a further indictment of tourists who have the luxury of a temporary stay, as tourists and believe everything in Cuba is peachy keen and is an island paradise. Imagine fighting over chicken, in N.America the chicken is falling out of the store freezer.
Hi Ray ,
People arrest increased because they were protesting more , they were more encouraged to do it , they felt democracy was getting closer.
Changes in the properties relations at the foundation of the society will bring changes at the top of it were the politics are defined , approach and better relationships is the answer , people will always want more when they see hope. Obama policy lasted nothing to create a desired change. Squishing Cubans is not the answer.
It is an ok article . I wish that she could put more emphasis on the criminality of a government that enslaved his own people . I am not agree what Trump is doing but the Cuban government doesn’t show any interest to help his own people. There is no food, instead of to build resorts build some chicken, pigs farm……have a decent leaving for the people. They increase the salary, 30 cuc = 30 Americans dollars. A small tube of toothpaste cost $1 American . Has been 60 year of misery in the name of Socialism’s.
The Russian the Chinese change …..when is going to be for Cuba. Do not blame America blame these proud government Cuban officials.
I coudn’t help but cringe reading this article full of recycled and some one even say even racist stereotypes and tropes of the octagenarian, hate-filled Cuban exile hoping to get his confiscated home back. The fact is that Title III will not affect the average Cuban who does not have to fear his home being taken away by some aging Cuban exile. The only people who have to fear are the carpetbagging European businessmen who have purchased stolen property at bargain basement prices and are now exploiting the Cuban people, while they subsidize the repressive castro oligarchy that has completely destroyed the country and caused so much suffering .
By the way, Obama’s rapproachment with the tyranny did not work as dissident arrests increased under his policy. It only served to embolden the tyranny that now felt impervious to criticism.
Great article!!!!
I agree with you.
Nothing can be done by a “people” unless politicians and army are involved.
The people are the Matrix needed just to shape a project built by powerful people. And power is within weapon holders. And that’s a human caracteristic that will never change. Unless women decide to change it.
Martin Van Creveld to his mom:”When are men going to stop fighting?”
She responded:”The day women stop loving the winners”.
An excellent balanced and thoughtful article. The heading correctly defines the problem. Cubans exist in a country where the thinking of a German Jewish philosopher born in 1818 and living in London, England is holy writ. The question is how a people subjected to totalitarian controls based on 19th century concepts, and daily indoctrination can find any improvement in their pitiful lot.
The Poder Popular and its 603 communist members sit for hours listening to economic babble – none of which comes to fruition, but doesn’t address how to improve the standard of living of the citizens. The priority is the retention of power and control, with any who dissent being jailed. The new constitution has two purposes, the first is to entrench the Communist Party of Cuba as the sole political party in a one-party state. The second is to endeavour to persuade the politically innocent in the free capitalist world that Cuba has changed and is now “democratic socialist”.
A pre-university school teacher told me that the only pupils who had ambition were those who hoped to emigrate. For the rest who seek some form of normal life, they can only do as I described in my book:
“Don’t challenge the system, accept it, stay mute and exist,”
muy buen articulo, estaria bueno ponerselo a trump de wallpaper
This is so wrong. Wanting to fight for something that happened so long ago. Why they don’t focus I making Cuba a good place? In helping so many people that has lost they houses by natural disasters and doesn’t have a place to live? Why they don’t focus on helping so many Cubans that are dying because they don’t have nothing. Those old Cubans that lost they house they knew that by leaving the country they will loose everything. And now they want to get it back. So annoying all of this corruption and political issues that make inocent people to suffer
The best article ever… congratulations for write in this article the idea that lots of people talk for many years…Both sides who want the power are rich..but Cuban people are poor…Rich will become more rich, poor more poor….they don’t care about nothing..they just want money and eat nice while others die in a fight.
What are you talking about! The Cubans. They are great people…no crasy rich , all the same poor and happy happy and dancing and friendly to the sky. They made their chose already, isn’t it!?
Very thoughtful article. I just wonder how is the much desired change by many Cubans, in or out of the country, will finally come about. If not by protests by the citizens who have been enslaved and abused for sixty years, nor by measures taken from the outside by Cuban Americans who unselfishly still care for their Homeland, or from the USA for their own ulterior motives, then what will work? How will the people ever achieve that “freedom to make changes in a context of peace”? Is it just as simple as the people still have not “decided” what they want?
Just to be clear this isn’t about the property of US citizens that was expropriated, but about the property of those who were Cuban citizens at the time of expropriation. It is an unusual law because it would prevent any state from exoropriating the property of its own people. The US itself carries out expropriations. Not to mention the abrogration of treaties and land stealing from Native American citizens outright.
Did those people committed Treason?