In the Face of Imperial Arrogance, International Solidarity

Jessica García

Original written in Spanish

Last January, Trump announced the imposition of additional tariffs on products from countries that sell or supply crude oil to Cuba. This marked yet another step in the attempt to strangle the Cuban people. However, it is necessary to recall, once again, that this inhumane blockade did not begin with this administration. The U.S. blockade against Cuba has lasted almost as long as the Revolution itself, as it was a direct consequence of the Cuban people’s exercise of sovereignty over their territory. But as we already know in Latin America and the Caribbean, any attempt to oppose the will of our northern neighbor comes at a high cost. We also know that where there is oppression, there is—and always will be—solidarity and resistance. 

WFPSC delegation visits the Martin Luther King Center in Havana, Cuba (January 2026)

No more oil for Cuba

Trump orders, and the world must obey. Otherwise, one must face the consequences of disobedience. That seems to be the dynamic currently at play in this part of the world (not to mention in much of it). Cuba is paying the price for not obeying, but not just since January—for decades. Yet the empire seems to advance a little further each time, tightening the screws a bit more, until there is no air left to breathe and it can subjugate an entire people.

The current restriction on access to oil adds to a series of measures that have been piling up year after year in order to subjugate Cuba to the will of the United States. In this context, each new restriction has devastating humanitarian consequences for an entire people. Power outages are becoming more frequent and longer, access to gas has been limited, and in some regions families must use coal for cooking. Mobility has been severely restricted across the entire island. The Cuban government has had to take measures similar to those implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic to reduce fuel consumption and mitigate the obvious consequences of the blockade.

Unfortunately, no one has been able to—or dares to—challenge the empire in the region. Let us remember that, in early January, Trump ordered a military intervention and the kidnapping of the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, in his own country, killing dozens of people in the process, violating Venezuela’s national sovereignty and the principle of non-intervention. All of this with total impunity. From that moment on, he threatened Colombia, announced new sanctions against Cuba, ordered the bombing of Iran, and stated that after Iran, Cuba would be next. There are no sanctions—nor will there be any—against the United States. International law does not apply to the empire.

No more Cuban doctors for the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean

Cuban medical missions have been a symbol of Cuban solidarity not only in Latin America and the Caribbean, but throughout the world. Since the 1960s, thousands of Cuban doctors have participated in these medical missions around the world. Currently, there are more than 20,000 doctors from Cuba deployed in over 50 countries, primarily in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa.

However, today these medical missions are also at risk. Guatemala, Honduras, and Jamaica have already announced the end of their agreements with Cuba regarding the continued presence of Cuban medical missions, without any mention of the impact this withdrawal will have on the fundamental right to health of the very populations they serve. In Jamaica, for example, it has been reported that patients receiving care at medical centers staffed by Cuban doctors are seeking treatment before the doctors must return to Cuba. Dominica has announced that it must make changes to the terms of the agreement and is in talks with the Cuban government to reach a resolution.

This means not only a lack of access for those communities that relied on medical care through the Cuban medical missions, but also a new restriction on the inflow of foreign currency to Cuba and, consequently, to those who receive direct assistance from the state.

No oil or foreign currency for Cuba, no doctors for the region. The United States offers only submission or destruction to its neighbors—or rather, to the world. However, while some governments have chosen submission, the peoples of the region have chosen resistance and solidarity with the Cuban people.

In front of imperial arrogance, international solidarity

As if restricting access to oil and threatening any country that dares to cooperate with Cuba or receive aid from Cuba were not enough, the Trump administration is also threatening activists, non-governmental organizations, anyone who shows solidarity with the Cuban people. Recently, U.S. lawmakers have accused non-governmental organizations that stand in solidarity with Cuba and denounce the blockade of receiving funding from the Chinese Communist Party without any evidence to support such accusations.

The persecution of those who denounce the empire’s crimes has never ceased. However, it intensified with Trump’s arrival against those protesting in solidarity with the Palestinian people and continues today against those denouncing the blockade against Cuba and demanding its end. While Cuba opens the doors of the Latin American School of Medicine to Palestinian students and students from much of the world, including the United States, the latter deepens the blockade and sends weapons to Israel to continue the genocide in Palestine.

Following this example of international solidarity among peoples and emulating the Sumud Flotilla, on March 21 the Nuestra América Flotilla will set sail for Cuba. The former sought to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza; the latter will seek to break the U.S. blockade of Cuba. 

Despite constant persecution and threats, solidarity continues. For our part, we will continue to organize delegations to Cuba in order to understand firsthand not only the impacts of the blockade on the daily lives of the Cuban people, but also the ways they have found to cope with them. In the face of imperial arrogance, we will continue to choose international solidarity.