Cuban resilience in the face of its toughest test
The Communist Party of Cuba has survived six decades. It overcame the US embargo and the ‘Special Period’ famine after the fall of the USSR. But now he faces something different.
It is not a formal declared block. It is a silent and effective choke from the sea. The navigation data is brutal: in March not a single foreign tanker arrived in Cuba. The volume of port calls plummeted.
“Every Cuban resident is suffering from acute inaccessibility to fuel,” said Ian Ralby, director of IR Consilium.
The consequences are daily and serious for 11 million people. Massive blackouts. Collapse in medical care due to lack of fuel for ambulances and generators. Cuba produces only 40% of the crude oil it needs.
A calculated strategy with no official name
The most striking thing is how it is done. The White House has not officially reinstated the export restrictions eased by Biden. In fact, US food shipments increased last year.
But the message is clear for anyone who wants to do business with the island.
“No one wants to be on the radar of Trump’s Social Truth account,” said John Kavulich, president of the US-Cuba Trade Council.
The continued presence of US warships in the Caribbean, the same ones used in the operation against Maduro, acts as a perfect deterrent. Companies and countries censor themselves.
Trump has been upping the rhetorical ante. He spoke of a “friendly takeover” and then promised Latin American allies that Cuba would be “sent” after Iran. The shadow of forced change is long.
The Cuban response has not been long in coming.
“Cuba is a free, independent and sovereign State; no one dictates to us what to do,” Díaz-Canel declared in January. “…fight to defend the country to the last drop of blood.”
Faced with criticism over hunger, Washington has tried to moderate its image. He sent humanitarian aid and said he would allow fuel to be sent to the Cuban private sector. A play that Rubio justified like this:
“The reason why these industries have not prospered in Cuba is because the regime has not allowed them to prosper.”
But it is an unrealistic solution when the government controls distribution and companies lack capital. John Felder, a businessman who frequently travels to the island, sees it clearly from the inside:
“US policies have created the most resilient people in the world… They want change, but they don’t want to be controlled by the United States.”
That’s the core of the matter. After 66 years of tensions, Cubans know well the price of each foreign promise. This time, the fence is as tangible as the darkness in their homes.
