Category Archives: Cuba

Trump says U.S. is ‘starting to talk with Cuba’ even as he tries to block oil imports

by Jim Hodgson

In the face of U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to impose new tariffs on any nation that exports oil to Cuba, we all need to stand firm. Here are two ways to send messages to Canadian leaders.

First, the Take Action proposed by Canadian churches, trade unions and NGOs. Yes: it pre-dates the current crisis, but its message is vital. Canada cannot be silent.

Second, the Canadian Network on Cuba has an on-line petition to Canadian parliamentarians. It too pre-dates the immediate crisis, but is still an important means to communicate.

Of course you can write your own letters to leaders in whichever country you live.

Take heart from increasingly strong messages from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.

Today, she denied Trump’s claim a night earlier that they had talked about Cuba, much less that he had asked her to stop sending Mexican oil to Cuba and that she would comply.

La Jornada

The only such conversation, she said while travelling in Sonora state, had been between her foreign affairs secretary, Juan Ramón de la Fuente, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Sheinbaum has said several times this week that her country will continue to send humanitarian aid including oil to Cuba. Various sources report that Cuba has only enough oil to satisfy needs for another 15 to 20 days.

For his part, de la Fuente told Mexican legislators today that Mexico considers it “unacceptable that there not be humanitarian aid where it is needed, when some country in the world requires it.”

Saturday night, while travelling from Washington DC to his home in Florida, Trump said the United States was beginning to talk with Cuban leaders. (There is no confirmation as of Sunday evening from Cuba that such talks have begun.)

In comments to reports on Air Force One, he added: “It doesn’t have to be a humanitarian crisis. I think they probably would come to us and want to make a deal,” Trump said Saturday. “So Cuba would be free again.”

He predicted they would make some sort of deal with Cuba and said, “I think, you know, we’ll be kind.” (U.S. interventions since 1812 have not been known for their kindness.)

The comments follow more than six decades of U.S. sanctions aimed at inducing regime change in revolutionary Cuba, the kidnapping four weeks ago of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on any country that continued to sell oil to Cuba. 

On Wednesday night, Jan. 29, he declared a “national emergency” to protect “U.S. national security and foreign policy from the Cuban regime’s malign actions and policies.”

Granma photo: Ricardo López Hevia

Cuban leaders have condemned and denounced this new escalation of the “U.S. economic blockade.”

“Surrender will never be an option, and hard times like these must be faced with courage and bravery,” said President Miguel Díaz-Canel Saturday.

The Trump regime’s tactic of confiscating Venezuelan oil tankers has worsened a fuel and electricity crisis in Cuba. The Cuban people face rolling blackouts and struggle to cope without reliable fuel and electricity supplies.

New intervention: U.S. seizes Venezuelan president, goes for the oil

Let’s be clear. The U.S. kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Celia Flores today has nothing to do with debates over the quality of Venezuelan democracy or about drug-trafficking. Like Iraq more than 20 years ago, this intervention has everything to do with oil.

Left: Claudia Sheinbaum, “Mexico energetically rejects the U.S. actions against Venezuela and calls for respect for international law.” Centre: Luis Inácio da Silva, Brazil, “Attack on Venezuela has crossed the limit of what is acceptable.” Lula added that he remains willing to promote dialogue and co-operation. Right: Gustavo Petro, “Colombia rejects aggression against Venezuela and deploys public force on the border.” Petro added he would try to convene the UN Security Council.

As responsible Latin American leaders are pointing out today, the U.S. assault on Venezuela is illegal. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum pointed to Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter: “Members must refrain from threatening or using force against another state’s territory or independence.”

But the rules-based international order has been under attack for years, even by those who purport to uphold it. U.K. journalist Owen Jones writes today that the invasion of Iraq in 2003 helped normalize aggression, including Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and the on-going Israeli occupation of Palestine and genocide in Gaza. U.S. journalist Chris Hedges writes that the kidnapping of President Maduro shows “America is a gangster state.”

The contrast between a statement by the U.S. women’s peace network CodePink and one by Canada’s foreign minister Anita Anand on X cannot be more stark. CodePink launches a campaign for letters to members of congress; Anand declines to condemn the U.S. intervention.

Other responses:

In his news conference today, Trump said, “We will run the country,” and: “We will stay until such time as a proper transition can take place.” Venezuelans may have other plans.

Perhaps you are following these events in mainstream media. You might also look at Latin America-based alternatives that have English-language sites. Among them:

Orinoco Tribune is an independent media outlet that provides news and analysis on Venezuela, Latin America and the Global South. It was founded in 2018 and is known for its progressive perspective and critical coverage of US foreign policy and imperialism.

Prensa Latina is a Havana-based news service.

TeleSUR is a Caracas-based television station viewed in many Latin American countries. It’s English-language service is here.

Take action for Cuba this Christmas

by Jim Hodgson

As Beth Baskin, my friend and former colleague at the United Church of Canada, wrote in an email Wednesday to several Canadian churches, unions and solidarity groups:

“Unfortunately, the people of Cuba will be experiencing a Christmas without sufficient power and having spent 70 per cent of their income on food to feed their family this month. They may be missing family members at the table as they suffer from increased disease or have left the country seeking a better life. All of these realities existed before Hurricane Melissa struck earlier this fall affecting 3.5 million people and damaging homes, schools, and healthcare centres.” 

You might have been doing this (or something like it) over the past few years – or for more than 65 years since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution on January 1, 1959, sparked the ire of the United States. Maybe you have written letters like the one we suggest here and below. Or maybe you have contributed funds to one of the organizations that support workers, churches, women and farmers in Cuba. Or perhaps you contributed goods to send in a container to Cuba, or took an extra suitcase with medicine or milk powder to leave with friends when you last travelled there.

Thank you!

The government of Canada has contributed at least $6.5 million to several agencies carrying out relief actions in response to Hurricane Melissa. But there are longer term requests that we have of our government. 

Canada should take these actions:

  • Continue to scale up efforts to provide immediate food, medicines and medical supplies and ongoing development assistance to Cuba;
  • Strengthen Canada’s commitment to an independent foreign policy with Cuba based on dialogue, constructive engagement and respect for self-determination rather than punitive measures such as sanctions that only hurt the Cuban people;
  • Work with other countries, including from Latin America, the Caribbean and others, to prevent U.S. measures that isolate and harm the Cuban people from interfering with the delivery of humanitarian assistance by other countries, including Canada.

You are invited to raise your concerns with our Canadian government through this Take Action link.

And thanks for sharing this request as you are able. 

From the text of our Take Action request:

What’s Happening in Cuba
Cuban partner organizations and recent visitors say conditions in Cuba today are much more difficult than in the early 1990s when the implosion of the Soviet Union led to a massive deterioration in living standards. The pandemic shuttered the tourism industry, a main source of revenue used to acquire food, medicines and fuel from abroad. Cuba has also suffered a series of hurricanes, droughts and floods, leading to lost crops and food shortages. Energy shortages limit public transit and even the collection of garbage. Punitive U.S. measures under both Biden and Trump have also reversed the many gains delivered by the easing of such measures by the Obama administration.

The return of Trump in 2025, and appointment of Marco Rubio, a vocal proponent of increased sanctions on Cuba, as U.S. Secretary of State, has meant additional pressure. U.S. measures not only restrict U.S. citizens and businesses from providing support to the Cuban people, they also interfere with the delivery of humanitarian aid by other countries because banks limit transactions; suppliers face risks of U.S. retaliation; shipping of freight becomes more complicated and costly.

Again, here’s a way to write to Canadian government ministers and your Member of Parliament: https://petition.web.net/CanadaActNowOnCuba

Thanks! ¡Feliz Navidad!