“During the first Trump regime Cuba became a particular target for US imperialism. In the last few days of office in 2021 he imposed a series of vindictive measures which in total added 243 new orders intensifying the already vicious blockade imposed on Cuba”
By Bernard Regan, Cuba Solidarity Campaign
Donald Trump will be inaugurated President of the United States of America on Monday 20th January 2025.
His return to the White House, just four years after his previous term of office which ended on 20th January 2021, does not augur well for Cuba or indeed for the countries of Latin America. His attitude towards Cuba and Latin America has been well documented. His overarching policy position was expressed during the period of his first Presidency when on 25th September 2018, speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, he invoked the 1823 Monroe Doctrine, rejecting “the interference of foreign nations in this hemisphere”. This rejection of external interests was (and is) in reality code for the unfettered assertion of Washington-Wall Street ambitions. He has a Cold War view of the world seen through the prism of the primacy of USA economic interests, with China the new challenge replacing the former Soviet Union, although for senior USA figures Russia too remains a threat.
Trump has his eyes on ensuring that US capital is the determining force in respect of the continent playing a key role in the exploitation of the valuable resources of Latin America such as Lithium, oil and other minerals. His aim is simple – to prevent China, from developing its economic relations with the region. A challenge which is evidenced by the developing relations between Latin America and Chinese companies exemplified by the opening of the megaport of Chancay in Peru, which will become the largest deepwater port on the western coast of the continent.
During the first Trump regime Cuba became a particular target for US imperialism. In the last few days of office in 2021 he imposed a series of vindictive measures which in total added 243 new orders intensifying the already vicious blockade imposed on Cuba by successive Presidents. On 12th January 2021, days before he left office, he placed Cuba on the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism – a move which places even more stringent limitations on Havana’s ability to pay for goods and services in the international market. It blocks Cuba’s access to SWIFT – the mechanism universally used to transfer monies between countries. It makes it difficult for the Cuban government to buy and sell on the international market and gain necessary credits to develop the economy.
The blockade is vicious – denying essential medical equipment for the treatment of cancer, cochlea implants for children, basic PPE equipment during the time of COVID and many other examples. The extraterritorial penalties placed on third-party countries are carried out in contravention of UN General Assembly motions and internationally recognised terms of trade between sovereign countries. In the opinion of a number of internationally recognised legal authorities, “no blockade has been as comprehensive, long lasting and brutal against a people as the one that the United States have maintained against Cuba.” A view endorsed in at the UN General Assembly by a vote of 187 – 2 with 1 abstention. Only the USA and Israel voted against the condemnation of the blockade.
Biden kept all of Trump’s measures in place. It was impossible to put a cigarette paper between the policies of the Republicans and the Democrats making people nostalgic for the “Obama days” even though he too retained the same strategic objective of overthrowing Cuba’s socialist revolution.
The ostensible reason for placing Cuba on the State Sponsor of Terrorism list was its refusal to enact an extradition order by the Colombian government imposed on members of the ELN guerilla movement. The ELN members in Cuba were there to forward peace negotiations with the Colombian government. Cuba was hosting these negotiations at the behest of the United Nations in conjunction with the Norwegian government. Needless to say Norway has not been put on the list of sponsors of terrorism! On 24th October 2024, the Colombian government itself agreed to an extension ceasefire with the ELN until 15th April 2025. The retention of this categorising of Cuba is the most vindictive sanction imaginable – at least to date.
Trump’s appointment of Senator Marco Rubio as Secretary of State signposts that his attitudes are not going to alter one iota in his second Presidency. Rubio, the Miami-born son of Cuban parents, who despite his attempts to rewrite history, left the island two years before the 1959 revolution, is a virulent anti-Cuba warrior when it comes to USA policies towards the island.
Like Trump, he wants to establish hemispheric hegemony over Latin America and he sees Cuba as an obstacle to fully achieving that goal. One of Trump’s weapons will be the imposition of hard-line policies threatening the mass deportation of around 11 million (sometimes he quotes 21 million) non-documented migrants. Countries in the region, including Canada, are anxious about the consequences which, in Cuba, would impact on an already blockade-challenged economy.
The unity of progressive forces in Latin America will be important as will international solidarity.
Bernard Regan is speaking at a solidarity event organised by Arise Festival and the Labour Friends of Progressive Latin America tonight (12 December) at 6.30PM: Trump – Hands Off Latin America!
- Bernard Regan is Secretary of the Cuba Solidarity Campaign and joins guests from Latin America and solidarity speakers for ‘Trump: Hands Off Latin America’ tonight at 6.30pm.
- You can follow Bernard on Twitter/X here; and follow the Cuba Solidarity Campaign on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram.
