CUBA OUT OF FUEL DUE TO TRUMP’S OIL BLOCKADE – WHERE IS RUSSIA?

Written by Michael Thervil

CUBA OUT OF FUEL DUE TO TRUMP’S OIL BLOCKADE – WHERE IS RUSSIA? | PHOTOGRAPHER UNKNOWN

[Cuba Trump fuel oil blockade Russia] With Cuba's Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy revealing that Cuba has run out of fuel, the question of the hour that many geopolitical analysts are asking is: “Where is Russia"? Being that Russia has been a strategic long-term ally of Cuba since the day of the Soviet Union, it seems highly likely that Russia and other countries of the global south may come to Cuba assistance in the form of not only oil and gas, but humanitarian aid as well. Cuba, one of the longest and heaviest sanctioned countries since the Kennedy Administration, has been effectively decimated by the weaponization of sanctions, decades long trade embargo, and now an oil blockade by America.

With the national oil and gas reserves of Cuba running out as of Thursday, the secondary effects have become a nightmare for every Cuban citizen. From no longer having access to energy, all schools and hospitals have been forced to close, putting a generation of students and the lives of medical patients at risk. Garbage collection, water pumping stations have been forced to close, increasing the likelihood of disease to run rampant due to lack of sanitation. Various airlines have also stopped all commercial activities in Cuba as well. While it can be easily pointed to the fact that the cause of the current humanitarian crisis in Cuba is due to the combination of the weaponization of sanctions, engaging in trade embargos by the Americans and the enforcement of those sanctions and trade embargo by countries within the influence of the Collective West.

With the Americans now conducting an oil blockade around Cuba, the irony lies in the Director of the American CIA John Ratcliffe conducting a meeting in Havana, with the Cuban Interior of Ministry to push the gesture of the Cuban government receiving $100 million in aid funding to offset the negative effects of the actions of the Americans and the Collective West. This flies in the face of the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's claim that Cuban officials rejected the previous $100 million aid package offer. The fundamental reason according to geopolitical analysis why the Cuban government may have rejected America's original $100 million humanitarian aid package offering is because of the stipulation placed on receiving those funds by the Americans. Stimulations such as the allocation of funds to citizens would have to come from entities such as the Catholic Church and “other reliable independent humanitarian organizations” would effectively and severely undermine the Cuban government, degrading the legitimacy of the Cuban government in the eyes of Cuban citizens.

For those within the international community, the move to pit the Cuban citizen against their own government will only end up back firing in the long run because the American government has a prolonged history of failing to truly understand what binds people together in foreign countries. The one thing that is known is that according to Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez:

"The Cuban government does not, as a matter of practice, reject foreign aid offered in good faith and with genuine aims of cooperation, whether bilateral or multilateral". As he called for the Americans to "de-escalate energy, economic, commercial, and financial blockade measures, which have intensified as never before in recent months".

According to the CIA, America is prepared to seriously engage in talks regarding Cuban economic and security issues as they relate to America, but only if Cuba “makes fundamental changes". What exactly those “fundamental changes” are is currently unknown. Pushing back against meeting the demands of the Americans under pressure, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel stated that America should simply stop what it's doing in the region and lift the blockade and trade embargo. Other topics that were discussed during CIA Director John Ratcliffe meeting with Cuban officials were security and intelligence in what appears to be an attempt to extract something from the Cuban government without any real guarantees of progress for the people of Cuba. Granted Russia is busy dealing with the likes of Ukraine, but again where is Russia when it comes to Cuba and the crisis it’s facing?