Blowback Pod REPORT From Cuba: Trump STRANGLING Island To Death
Quick Read
Summary
Takeaways
- ❖Trump's executive order specifically targeted oil transactions with Cuba, aiming to cut off energy supplies, particularly from Mexico.
- ❖The explicit goal of the US policy is to 'choke the Cuban population' and 'plunge them into darkness' to force a government collapse.
- ❖On-the-ground observations reveal widespread electrical blackouts, increased begging, and conditions perceived as worse than the 'Special Period' of the 1990s.
- ❖Cuban officials deny US claims of high-level talks and express a desire for dialogue, which the US does not appear to be engaging in.
- ❖The US strategy relies on inflicting suffering, not on backing a strong internal opposition, which appears largely absent.
- ❖The Cuban government's leadership, including President Miguel Diaz-Canel, appears secure and confident, even walking unprotected among large crowds.
- ❖The humanitarian crisis is so severe that it is undermining existing cooperation between the US and Cuba on issues like drug trafficking.
Insights
1Targeted Energy Blockade Escalates Humanitarian Crisis
A Trump-era executive order specifically prohibited oil transactions with Cuba, primarily targeting Mexico, which had become Cuba's main foreign oil supplier. This action was explicitly designed to 'choke the Cuban population' and 'plunge them into darkness' by disrupting the electrical grid, which runs on oil, with the goal of collapsing the Cuban government.
The executive order announced last Thursday was meant to prohibit anybody from doing business with Cuba involving oil transactions. The Cuban electrical grid runs on oil... Trump targeted specifically... Mexico... The purpose of this... is to choke the Cuban population. It is to plunge them into darkness...
2On-the-Ground Conditions Worse Than 'Special Period'
Eyewitness accounts from Cuba indicate that the current humanitarian situation, marked by frequent and prolonged electrical blackouts, increased begging, and a return to basic survival methods like cooking with wood, is more severe than the 'Special Period' of the 1990s, which followed the collapse of the Soviet Union.
I didn't really experience any blackouts, electrical blackouts, which are now quite common... Noah and I probably had power less often than when we didn't have power... We did see people begging... most people would tell you now in Cuba this is worse.
3US Policy Undermines Existing Cooperation
The aggressive US policy, including the energy blockade, paradoxically undermines areas of existing cooperation between the US and Cuba, such as joint efforts with the US Coast Guard to prevent drug trafficking. Cuba's forces were previously considered a non-corrupt and effective partner in these efforts.
It's good for Cuba to have fuel and electricity when, for example, it works with the US Coast Guard to prevent drug trafficking, which is a cooperation that has happened in the very recent past and Cuba was considered... one of the best examples of a non-corrupt task force in that regard.
4Lack of Viable Internal Opposition
Despite US hopes that economic pressure would spark a pro-American, pro-democratic uprising, there is no evidence of a strong internal 'right' or opposition movement in Cuba. The US strategy appears to be one of inflicting suffering in the abstract hope that something will 'spontaneously arise,' rather than backing a specific, organized group.
It's the kind of strategy that gets pursued when there isn't a strong right, when there isn't a group, when there isn't a horse that you can back... if we just inflict enough pain spontaneously there will be something that emerges...
5Cuban Leadership Appears Secure Amidst Crisis
Observations, such as President Miguel Diaz-Canel walking largely unprotected among thousands during a public march, suggest that the Cuban leadership feels secure and confident, indicating that the severe economic pressure has not yet eroded their internal support or created a credible threat to their power.
We saw... the president of Cuba, Miguel Diaz Canal... this guy was surrounded without the kind of any of the sort of protection that even the most, you know, junior, you know, member of Congress seems to have these days... not an island that is ready to eat its own leadership.
Bottom Line
The US policy of strangling Cuba's energy supply, ostensibly to promote democracy, directly counteracts US national security interests by weakening Cuba's capacity to cooperate on critical issues like drug interdiction.
This creates a paradox where a policy intended to destabilize a government inadvertently destabilizes regional security by impairing effective partners in combating transnational crime.
A re-evaluation of sanctions policy could identify areas where cooperation with Cuba, even under its current government, serves US interests more effectively than punitive measures, potentially leading to more stable regional security and humanitarian outcomes.
Key Concepts
Germ Theory of Democracy
The guest describes the US strategy as akin to a 'germ theory of democracy,' where inflicting enough pain and suffering is expected to spontaneously generate a democratic uprising, rather than backing a specific, organized opposition. This implies a belief that political change will emerge organically from chaos, without a clear, pre-existing 'horse to back'.
Lessons
- Recognize that foreign policy sanctions, even when framed with humanitarian intentions, can directly cause severe humanitarian crises and undermine the well-being of the target population.
- Question official narratives about the goals and effectiveness of sanctions by seeking out on-the-ground reports and diverse perspectives from affected regions.
- Consider the broader implications of punitive foreign policies, including how they might inadvertently damage existing cooperation on shared security concerns like drug trafficking.
Notable Moments
The hosts and guests discuss a Cuban-American congresswoman, Maria Elvira Salazar, explicitly advocating for increased suffering (mother's hunger, child's need for help) to pressure the Cuban government to fall, framing it as a necessary 'brutal dilemma' for 'freedom'.
This moment starkly illustrates the extreme and controversial rationale behind some of the US's most severe sanctions, highlighting a willingness to inflict widespread suffering on ordinary citizens as a means to a political end.
The guests recount visiting a Cuban government museum, 'Memorial De La Denuncia,' dedicated to showcasing 'American aggression' and 'acts of terrorism committed against Cuba' supported by the US government, featuring displays of munitions and a 'shoes and clothes' motif similar to Holocaust museums.
This provides a rare glimpse into the Cuban government's narrative of victimhood and resistance against US intervention, offering a counter-perspective to the dominant US view and demonstrating how historical grievances are publicly framed and preserved within Cuba.
Quotes
"The purpose of this which is very explicit is to choke the Cuban population. It is to plunge them into darkness to make it so that they do not have electricity that they do not have the basic means of carrying out everyday life and the goal of that is that it will succeed the Americans hope where the last 60 years of American policy has not succeeded and that is to bring down the Cuban government."
"She says, 'The hour of Cuba's freedom has arrived. Today we have a president and a secretary of state determined to cleanse our hemisphere of tyrants, drug traffickers, and dictators. But the exile community also bears a historic responsibility to stop giving oxygen to the dictatorship because every dollar, every trip, and every gesture of false normaly prolongs the life of a criminal regime and condemns the Cuban people to another 60 years of misery, repression, and slavery. This is the moment to stop everything. No more tourism, no more remittances, no more mechanisms that continue to finance and sustain the dictatorship. And yes, she says, I understand it's devastating to think about a mother's hunger, a child who needs immediate help. No one is indifferent to that pain, but that is precisely the brutal dilemma we face as exiles to alleviate short-term suffering or to free Cuba forever.'"
"Most people would tell you now in Cuba this is worse."
"It's the kind of strategy that gets pursued when there isn't a strong right, when there isn't a group, when there isn't a horse that you can back."
Q&A
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