Pressure on Cuba is Needed, but a Siege and Oil Embargo is Not the Best Way

      I certainly agree with the Trump camp that we need to put pressure on Cuba to reform and cooperate with international norms, although that has not happened since the 1959 revolution that put Fidel Castro in power. In one sense, Cuba is a satellite state of the former USSR and now a satellite state of the USSR’s heir, Russia. However, it is close enough to the U.S., and we can exert enough leverage to keep it from being a problem. Sure, regime change would be the best outcome for the country and particularly for its people, but that is probably too complicated at the moment. Cuba has also meddled in Venezuela. The U.S has successfully recued that meddling as the interim government announced that the Cuban security apparatus favored by Maduro is leaving the country.

     It is unclear what the current U.S. oil embargo will achieve. It may spur the Cuban government to cooperate and make changes, but many are doubtful. It has already affected trade and tourism as fuel shortages affect the country. I was a bit annoyed to hear that the oil supplied freely to Cuba from Venezuela, or rather, in exchange for that security apparatus, was more than the country needed, and so they sold it to other buyers. They should have built more storage and stored more of it. Mexico has been supplying oil to Cuba for years as a humanitarian gesture, but stopped recently at the request of the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is reportedly negotiating with the Cuban government, but not much is known about those negotiations.

     Cuba is also a sore spot in any notion of controlling the hemisphere via the Monroe Doctrine, or as the newly termed 'Donroe Doctrine.' Cuba is basically a bad actor aligned with our adversaries and the world’s other bad actors, particularly Russia, but also Iran and Venezuela. The U.S. has strongly disrupted ghost fleet oil trade in the Caribbean, where sanctioned Russian, Venezuelan, and Iranian crude and diluent were flowing freely. I praise that effort. We should not tolerate it at all.

     The latest potential confrontation in the region involves a ghost fleet tanker currently off the East Coast of the U.S., which is thought to be bound for Cuba with Russian oil. I expect the U.S. will intercept and interdict it. It is exhibiting the usual tricks to disguise its position, country of origin, destination, and the oil was loaded in a ship-to-ship transfer.

     The UN recently condemned the U.S. executive order imposing a fuel blockade on Cuba.

“The U.S. executive order imposing a fuel blockade on Cuba is a serious violation of international law and a grave threat to a democratic and equitable international order,” the experts said.

“It is an extreme form of unilateral economic coercion with extraterritorial effects, through which the United States seeks to exert coercion on the sovereign state of Cuba and compel other sovereign third States to alter their lawful commercial relations, under threat of punitive trade measures,” they said.

     I think that statement goes a little too far, as does the following one.

“There is no right under international law to impose economic penalties on third States for engaging in lawful trade with another sovereign country,” the experts said.

     I would argue that deliveries of internationally sanctioned oil cargoes do not constitute “lawful trade.”

“A democratic international order cannot be reconciled with practices whereby one State claims the authority to dictate the internal policies and economic relations of others through threats and coercion,” the experts said.

     Here, I would argue by asking, “Are not sanctions a method of 'dictating economic relations of others through threats and coercion'?

     Although I disagree with the UN’s wording above, I agree with them about it being a humanitarian issue that needs to be addressed. We should not punish a population for the actions of its government. The UN goes on to say that energy is a basic requirement for many things: electricity, sanitation, transportation, communications, etc. The Trump doctrine of seemingly using every bit of real, imagined, legal, and illegal leverage is probably going too far in this case. The country is in economic despair and has been beset with power outages for years. People need to refrigerate their food and make money to survive. I really think we should allow Mexico to resume its oil shipments to Cuba. We certainly don’t want Russian oil delivered. Well. It looks like the U.S. will allow Venezuelan oil to be delivered to Cuba, so that is good. That also suggests that the U.S. will definitely stop the Russian oil from being delivered, and I hope that does happen.

     AFP reports:

The Treasury Department said it would allow "transactions that support the Cuban people" that include Venezuelan oil for "commercial and humanitarian use."

“To qualify, the exports would need to go through private businesses and not the vast government or military apparatus in the communist state.”

     Caribbean leaders were concerned that a continued blockade would trigger migration from the country and contribute to destabilizing the region.

     Cuba is a communist dictatorship that is allied to U.S. adversaries. It is also very close to the U.S. Thus, it does need to be watched closely. It really is a shame that they can’t evolve enough to have a democratically elected government and join the international community.  

  

 

References:

 

Russian ‘dark fleet’ tanker believed to be delivering oil to Cuba, detected off US coast amid Trump ban. Emma Bussey. Fox News. February 24, 2026. Russian ‘dark fleet’ tanker believed to be delivering oil to Cuba, detected off US coast amid Trump ban

UN experts condemn US executive order imposing fuel blockade on Cuba. United Nations. Press Release. 12 February 2026. UN experts condemn US executive order imposing fuel blockade on Cuba | OHCHR

US eases Venezuela oil ban to Cuba as crisis alarms Caribbean. AFP. February 25, 2026. US eases Venezuela oil ban to Cuba as crisis alarms Caribbean