Cuba (1 Viewer)

[superchuck500]

Trump's Cuba policy and the reactions to it have been quietly simmering for some time now, but things seem to be accelerating. But in typical Trump fashion, it isn't clear what the administration's objective is.

- January 2025- Trump back in office and announces new package of sanctions against Cuba.
- July 2025 - Trump enhances the Cuba travel ban with heightened enforcement.
- January 29/30, 2026 - Trump announces embargo of Cuba that includes maritime military enforcement that aims to end all oil imports to Cuba. Of course, this is existential for Cuba, as it relies heavily (>60%) on oil imports for its energy. In particular, Trump's removal of Venezuela as a source of oil for Cuba has been a key factor.

Since the new "maximum pressure" plan with the embargo, Cuba has complained to the UN and Russia has been attempting (perhaps successfully) to circumvent the embargo. Trump has announced various pressures and retaliations (mostly tariffs) to countries that supply Cuba. But also in February, the Trump administration announced a relief package to Cuba (food and supplies) to be distributed through NGOs, not the Cuban government.

In the past few days:
- Cuba's oil supplies are very low
- Russian tankers may be attempting to supply Cuba.
- Canada has announced it will be coming with an aid package (appears to not include oil) - and it did not consult the US about this at all.
- Mexico (another key supplier to Cuba) appears caught in the US pressure campaign

Oh and also, Cuba today fired up and killed four people in a USA-registered speed boat that violated restricted space

Russia considers fuel support for Cuba as Canada pledges food aid

A US-imposed fuel embargo has threatened to spark a humanitarian crisis in Cuba, whose energy grid relies on fossil fuel

www.aljazeera.com

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ottawa-funding-cuba-9.7105223

 

[coldseat]

All it does is prop up and enrich the leadership and military. The people are still in hell. The people get scraps at best.

Well, they won't be even getting that now. Hope your happy.

 

[efil4]

All it does is prop up and enrich the leadership and military. The people are still in hell.

Are they? by whose "standard" are they in "hell"? Yours?

Because all that im finding is they ( Cuba ) ranks almost dead middle of the 195 countries in the world when it comes to standard of living.

Now, it would make total sense to me, if you were applying YOUR standard of living to theirs. But they dont really care about what YOU have. See, thats long been an "American exceptionalism" issue- we tend to value our standard of living over just about everyone else. We also tend to think that EVERYONE else has the same wants/desires that we have. They dont.

and that is a whole other topic of discussion.

 

[B4YOU]

I think Trump is on an American revenge tour to write his name in the history books. Venezuela nationalized oil at the expense of American companies in 1976. Iran took hostages in 1980 and Obama negotiated nuclear controls. Cuba was under American military control until 1908, Bay of Pigs 1961, and Obama began normalizing relations. Part of me thinks a group is selling these 3 as some grand strategy, but I think it's simple revenge and spite with the secondary desire of a map showing lands Trump added to America.

Greenland is just poor means to what is like a good strategy.

 

[Sendai]

Are they? by whose "standard" are they in "hell"? Yours?

Because all that im finding is they ( Cuba ) ranks almost dead middle of the 195 countries in the world when it comes to standard of living.

Now, it would make total sense to me, if you were applying YOUR standard of living to theirs. But they dont really care about what YOU have. See, thats long been an "American exceptionalism" issue- we tend to value our standard of living over just about everyone else. We also tend to think that EVERYONE else has the same wants/desires that we have. They dont.

and that is a whole other topic of discussion.

“The standard of living in Cuba is
low, characterized by widespread poverty, severe shortages of food, fuel, and medicine, and very low wages, with an estimated 88% of the population living in extreme poverty. While the state provides free healthcare and education, essential goods are heavily rationed and often insufficient.”

A Look at Cuba: Growing Inequalities

Standing outside a store with a long—very long—line of people waiting to buy eggs, I started to chat with a woman in her 50s who lived in the Havana neighborhood.

revista.drclas.harvard.edu

You need to check your sources.

I have no doubt that the leadership and military are doing ok. Essentially at the expense of people.

 

[Dragon]

“The standard of living in Cuba is
low, characterized by widespread poverty, severe shortages of food, fuel, and medicine, and very low wages, with an estimated 88% of the population living in extreme poverty. While the state provides free healthcare and education, essential goods are heavily rationed and often insufficient.”

A Look at Cuba: Growing Inequalities

Standing outside a store with a long—very long—line of people waiting to buy eggs, I started to chat with a woman in her 50s who lived in the Havana neighborhood.

revista.drclas.harvard.edu

You need to check your sources.

I have no doubt that the leadership and military are doing ok. Essentially at the expense of people.

And you believe that a blockade will improve that? Did you even read the article or did you just focus on the headline

In that decade, nine out of ten children and adolescents attended primary and high school. Access to dignified work with modest income that allowed the satisfaction of basic needs was a key to improvements in equality and inclusion.

This favorable performance of social indicators was interrupted in the 90s. Cuba was severed from the international economic system when the Soviet Union and the socialist camp collapsed, countries that had provided a preferential market for Cuba’s goods, as well as several subsidies. The weight of the U.S. embargo was felt more strongly.

In the last decade, a combination of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, with erroneous national policies, contradictory and inefficient, together with the barriers caused by U.S. sanctions, have put the country in an extremely complex situation, characterized by a systematic breakdown or poly-crisis, in which failures appear in unrelated realms, like an interconnected and synchronized cascade, producing an increased and accelerated effect, causing the policies for managing these crises require both immediate specific intervention and consideration of the connection to the system as a whole to modify it.

 

[efil4]

“The standard of living in Cuba is
low, characterized by widespread poverty, severe shortages of food, fuel, and medicine, and very low wages, with an estimated 88% of the population living in extreme poverty. While the state provides free healthcare and education, essential goods are heavily rationed and often insufficient.”

A Look at Cuba: Growing Inequalities

Standing outside a store with a long—very long—line of people waiting to buy eggs, I started to chat with a woman in her 50s who lived in the Havana neighborhood.

revista.drclas.harvard.edu

You need to check your sources.

I have no doubt that the leadership and military are doing ok. Essentially at the expense of people.

Google Search

but i digress

. The point of all of this was to point out the fallacy that inflicting MORE pain on the Cuban people will lead them to prosperity and freedoms.

It wont.

 

[MT15]

The current government insures the Cuban people have no rights.

Baby steps. Plant the seeds.

It’s obscene that you think that a total oil blockade, which as we see punishes the civilian population is what should be done to “free the Cuban people”. As I have asked you repeatedly - how many civilian deaths are okay with you to accomplish regime change? What’s your number?

Any blockade that punishes the civilian population more than the military is a war crime.

Regime change via war or war crimes are immoral and obscene. This is what you are supporting.

 

[Sendai]

It’s obscene that you think that a total oil blockade, which as we see punishes the civilian population is what should be done to “free the Cuban people”. As I have asked you repeatedly - how many civilian deaths are okay with you to accomplish regime change? What’s your number?

Any blockade that punishes the civilian population more than the military is a war crime.

Regime change via war or war crimes are immoral and obscene. This is what you are supporting.

Never said I favored the oil blockade. Simply pointed out it has been in place since Kennedy.

My emphasis is that the leadership and military are responsible for the horrible conditions of the people. When they have oil the common folk are still horribly deprived. Making proper treatment of the people contingent on getting oil might be a provide incentive to the leadership and military. I suspect it’s part of Rubio’s agenda.

 

[Sendai]

Most of the "hell" is created by the US blockade....

No, it’s created by the leadership and military

 

[Dragon]

No, it’s created by the leadership and military

That is not correct. Perhaps try actually reading the article you linked to earlier

 

[Sendai]

That is not correct. Perhaps try actually reading the article you linked to earlier

Oh, it’s correct. The military rules the economy.

 

[MT15]

Simply pointed out it has been in place since Kennedy.

No, it hasn’t. This is more extreme and it targets the civilian population rather than the government and the military. This is new and it could be interpreted as a war crime.

 

[Sendai]

No, it hasn’t. This is more extreme and it targets the civilian population rather than the government and the military. This is new and it could be interpreted as a war crime.

“



AI Overview


Yes, the United States still maintains a comprehensive economic embargo against Cuba, originally imposed in the 1960s
. While certain humanitarian goods, food, and medical supplies are permitted under strict cash-only, no-credit terms, the U.S. generally restricts trade, financial transactions, and travel to the island, with recent, tighter restrictions in place as of 2026.

Journal of Democracy +4
Key details regarding the current state of the U.S. embargo include:

• Legal Status: The embargo remains in place under various statutes, including the Trading with the Enemy Act, making it the longest-lasting trade sanction in U.S. history.
• Restrictions:The U.S. government restricts most exports to and imports from Cuba, as well as financial transactions
  . American credit/debit cards generally do not work on the island.
• • Travel: While not a total ban, travel is limited to specific authorized categories, and American tourism is prohibited.
  • Humanitarian Exception: The Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 and other laws authorize the sale of food and medicine for cash, allowing limited, legal trade in these areas.
  • International View: The United Nations General Assembly has consistently, for over 29 years, voted in favor of a resolution calling for the U.S. to lift the embargo.
    
    
    Journal of Democracy +5

The policy has fluctuated, with a brief thawing under President Obama, followed by a tightening of sanctions under the Trump administration that have largely continued, impacting Cuba's oil supply and overall economy