Cuba denounces Trump administration’s May Day sanctions
Cuba condemned new U.S. sanctions introduced by President Donald Trump on May 1, calling them “collective punishment” and “unilateral coercive measures.” Cuba’s foreign minister, Bruno Rodriguez, said the timing-on May Day, when many Cubans protest the U.S. blockade and energy restrictions-underscores the intent to punish the Cuban people as the country faces a worsening economic crisis.
The executive order said Cuba’s government policies pose an unusual threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy, and criticized them as harmful and contrary to democratic values. The sanctions expand earlier measures amid Havana’s deepening hardships and renewed threats of possible military action from Washington. The article also links Cuba’s current situation to severe disruptions, including blackouts following the loss of its central oil support after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was ousted, and suggests the Trump administration may intensify its focus on Cuba after other conflicts conclude.
The Cuban government denounced new sanctions leveled against the island nation on Friday as “collective punishment,” as the economic situation grows increasingly dire.
President Donald Trump implemented the new sanctions in an executive order on Friday, coinciding with the International Workers’ Day, or May Day, holiday. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez was quick to respond, denouncing the actions as “unilateral coercive measures” amounting to “collective punishment on the Cuban people.”
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“It is no coincidence that these measures were announced on May 1, the very day that millions of Cubans take to the streets to denounce the US blockade and the energy siege,” he continued. “While the US government represses its own people in the streets, it seeks to punish ours, who are heroically resisting the US imperialism’s attacks.”
Trump’s order announcing the sanctions began with a harsh condemnation of the Cuban government.
“The policies, practices, and actions of the Government of Cuba … continue to constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat, which has its source in whole or substantial part outside the United States, to the national security and foreign policy of the United States,” the order read. “Not only are these policies, practices, and actions designed to harm the United States, but they are also repugnant to the moral and political values of free and democratic societies.”
The new sanctions constitute an expansion of previous sanctions, at a time when Havana faces an existential economic crisis and repeated threats of kinetic action from Washington.
CUBA COULD BE THE NEXT HONG KONG. HERE’S WHAT IT WOULD TAKE
Cuba has experienced nationwide blackouts after the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by Delta Force commandos on Jan. 3 ended its central oil lifeline. Trump has repeatedly suggested that he will turn his attention to the island nation after the war with Iran concludes.
The communist government in Cuba has long served as a major thorn in the U.S.’s side, and the Trump administration’s new focus on the Western Hemisphere could signal its impending end.
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