ZdA newspaper of the PdA
Havana/Washington. Donald Trump's announcement to cut off Cuba's access to Venezuelan oil and financial support is the logical continuation of US policy toward Cuba for more than six decades. Economic pressure, blockade, threats of destabilization: none of this is new. The only thing new is the brutality with which this policy is being carried out.
Trump is demanding an agreement without specifying its content, making it clear that the goal is not negotiation but submission. Cuba must give in before it is “too late”: this is nothing more than another act of political blackmail.
The fact that US warships remain stationed off the Caribbean coast underscores the nature of this policy. Military force is not being used (yet), but it is permanently maintained as a threat. Sanctions, the withdrawal of oil, and economic isolation are intended to increase political and social pressure, without a formal declaration of war.
It is remarkable how openly people are now talking about a possible regime change in Cuba. Trump's public support for proposals to this effect, including the idea of a US politician becoming the future president of Cuba, shows complete disregard for Cuban sovereignty. International law is of no importance. In fact, Cuba's right to import fuel from other countries is being denied. Sanctions are being applied extraterritorially, trade relations are being criminalized, and economic precariousness is being used as a means of political pressure.
Cuba is not under pressure because of its current policy, but because of its continued refusal to fully integrate into the capitalist world order. The blockade is an instrument to discipline it. Therefore, our position remains the same: hands off Cuba. Solidarity with the Cuban people, its working class, and its right to political and economic self-determination.
(Zeitung der Arbeit)