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The Trump administration has presented a kitchen-sink assortment of justifications for waging economic war on Cuba.
A Russian spy base. Hamas and Hezbollah. Corruption. Human rights abuses. The list goes on.
We break down all the reasons Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have offered to justify regime change in Cuba — and why they fall apart under scrutiny.
Also this week:
- Solar-Paneled Tricycles Keep Cuba Moving
- Camila Guevara Milanés: Between Legacy and Her Own Voice
- Cuban Foreign Minister: Talks with U.S. “Show No Progress”
- Rubio Pressures UN Allies Before Cuba Debate
- A Cuban American Returns Home After 20 Years Away
- Cuban Doctors Respond to Venezuelan Earthquakes
- Miami's Plan to Privatize Cuba's Healthcare
- Capitol Hill Democrats Push Back on Trump’s Cuba Policy
- Trump Expands Crackdown on Solidarity Activists
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The Flimsy Case for Trump’s Economic War on Cuba
Marco Rubio is now arguing that Cuba represents a national security threat because it's a "failed state," effectively using the humanitarian crisis brought about by the policies he masterminded in order to justify continuing those very policies.
This circular reasoning is just the latest absurdity — largely unquestioned by major media outlets — the Trump administration has presented as an argument for regime change in Cuba.
A host of other reasons can be found in Donald Trump's January 29 executive order threatening tariffs against any country that exports oil to Cuba. The order states that the oil blockade is necessary because Cuba represents a "national emergency" and poses an "unusual and extraordinary threat" to the United States. It then backs up these claims with a long list of flimsy and ludicrous justifications, to which Rubio has subsequently added.
Here are the Trump administration’s main arguments for waging economic war on Cuba — and why they deserve scrutiny:
Cuba hosts Russian and Chinese spy bases
Cuba hosts Russia’s “largest overseas signals intelligence facility” in addition to Chinese spy bases. Russia has a spy base in Cuba known as Lourdes while China has a base in a municipality called Bejucal.
FACT CHECK: There is no conclusive evidence that either China or Russia have a spy base in Cuba.
Russia did have a massive spy base in Cuba known as Lourdes — during the Cold War. Vladimir Putin closed the base in 2001, and a year later, it was replaced by a public university. (Stay tuned for our upcoming report from the university, where our efforts to find Russian spies proved fruitless).
Allegations of Chinese spy bases have relied largely on anonymous officials and satellite imagery obtained by the D.C.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, which recently acknowledged that there was “no clear publicly available evidence” proving China’s presence at Bejucal.
Two years ago, we traveled to Bejucal and two other supposed sites and found no evidence of Chinese spies or spy bases.
While there is no proof that Russia and China are using Cuba to spy on the United States, the Trump administration is openly spying on Cuba. In April, a U.S. military surveillance drone was spotted flying off Cuba’s coast for several hours, circling in holding patterns near Havana and Santiago de Cuba.
The United States operates more than 800 military and intelligence facilities around the world, including bases used for surveillance, drone operations, missile defense and overseas military campaigns.
Cuba harbors Hamas and Hezbollah
Cuba “welcomes” Hamas and Hezbollah, providing a “safe environment” for them to build “economic, cultural and security ties” throughout the Western Hemisphere.
FACT CHECK: The administration has provided no evidence that Cuba is supporting Hamas or Hezbollah in the Western Hemisphere or that they have any presence on the island.
There are, in fact, hundreds of Palestinians in Cuba. They’re training to be doctors, alongside medical students from dozens of countries at the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM).
To hear what Palestinian medical students in Cuba have to say about the claim that Hamas and Hezbollah are active on the island, watch our video: Is Cuba a Safe Haven for Hamas and Hezbollah?
Cuba supports terrorism
Cuba is “one of the leading sponsors of terrorism” in the Western Hemisphere.
FACT CHECK: Days before Trump assumed office, the Biden administration concluded there was “no credible evidence” that Cuba sponsored terrorism, which has been the consensus position in the intelligence community for decades. The Trump administration has presented no new evidence to support its claim.
While there is no credible evidence that Cuba sponsors terrorism, the U.S. government has a long history of providing safe haven to Cuban-American terrorists who have carried out attacks against Cuba.
Among them was Luis Posada Carriles, a former CIA-trained operative who admitted to organizing a 1997 Havana hotel bombing campaign, which killed an Italian tourist and injured others. He was also implicated, along with Orlando Bosch, in the 1976 bombing of Cubana Flight 455, which killed 73 people, including children and every member of Cuba’s national fencing team. Neither Posada Carriles nor Bosch was tried for murder or terrorism in the United States, where they lived freely until their deaths.
Cuba destabilizes the region
Cuba “destabilizes” the Western Hemisphere through “migration and violence.”
FACT CHECK: For years, Cuba has been a key security partner for the United States in the region, working closely with the U.S. Coast Guard and other U.S. agencies to track drug traffickers, share intelligence and disrupt smuggling routes. Despite the Trump administration’s hostility, Cuba continues to receive deportation flights and the Cuban Border Guard cooperates with the U.S. Coast Guard to prevent unauthorized migration. Meanwhile, according to the State Department’s 2024 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, drug traffickers steer clear of the island due to the Cuban government’s “robust and aggressive security presence,” which stops transnational criminal organizations from gaining a foothold.
The single biggest factor driving unprecedented migration from Cuba in recent years has been U.S. sanctions, which have devastated Cuba’s economy and gutted the state’s ability to provide basic social services.
The Cuban government does not respect human rights
Cuba persecutes political opponents, denies free speech, imprisons peaceful protesters and “commits other human rights violations.”
FACT CHECK: The Trump administration does not articulate why it believes alleged human rights abuses in Cuba pose a threat to U.S. national security. Nor has it attempted to reconcile its professed concern for the rights of people in Cuba with imposing an oil blockade that United Nations experts say is producing “grave consequences for human rights.” Nor has it explained why its concern for human rights seems limited only to Cuba — Trump’s National Security Strategy does not mention “human rights” once and the administration has shown no concern for egregious abuses in El Salvador, Israel, Egypt or Saudi Arabia, among other countries.
Meanwhile, as the Trump administration accuses Cuba of stifling dissent and imprisoning protesters, it is expanding its assault on political activism in the United States. Nine people who participated in a protest outside a Texas ICE detention facility were sentenced from 30 to 100 years under terrorism-related charges. Another 15 anti-ICE protesters are facing conspiracy charges in Minnesota.
Cuba’s leaders profit while ordinary Cubans suffer
Cuba’s military-run conglomerate, GAESA, is hoarding $18 billion that it has “stolen” from the Cuban people.
FACT CHECK: There is no proof GAESA is hoarding any money, much less $18 billion, nor that it has misused or misappropriated funds. The $18-billion figure comes from an article in the Miami Herald, which draws sweeping conclusions based on an apparent misreading of a leaked document. See our analysis of the Herald’s fuzzy math HERE.
While there is no evidence that Cuban leaders are engaged in large-scale corruption, Trump’s net worth has reportedly skyrocketed from $2.3 billion to $6.2 billion less than two years into his second term.
Spreading communism
Cuba is spreading “communist ideas, policies and practices” throughout the Americas.
FACT CHECK: If providing free and universal healthcare is a “communist idea, policy and practice” then Cuba may be guilty of this one. Cuba sends thousands of doctors to serve on international medical missions in dozens of countries, including in Italy (see our documentary about that mission HERE), where they provide free healthcare in underserved communities at the request of foreign governments.
While Cuba's medical missions are based on voluntary agreements, the Trump administration has sought to coerce governments into cutting ties with Cuba. In the last year, several countries have caved to U.S. pressure, ending Cuba’s medical missions and in the process leaving many without healthcare.
Solar-Paneled Tricycles Keep Cuba Moving
As fuel shortages resulting from the U.S. oil blockade continue to disrupt daily life across Cuba, some Cubans are finding new ways to keep the country moving.
This week, we met some of the entrepreneurs and drivers retrofitting electric tricycles with solar panels to extend their range and reduce reliance on the electrical grid. What began as a practical response to blackouts and transportation shortages is helping fill the gap left by Cuba's beleaguered public transit system.
"If we used to go 80 to 90 kilometers on battery power alone, now we go 150," says tricycle driver Evanys Pérez. "The tricycles are solving a tremendous problem for the country."
Watch the video.
Camila Guevara: Between Legacy and Her Own Voice
What does it mean to carry two of the most recognizable names in Cuba while trying to build a career of your own?
In our latest interview, Latin Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Camila Guevara Milanés opens up about the music, heartbreak and self-doubt that shaped her debut album, Dame Flores. She also reflects on what it’s like to be the granddaughter of both Ernesto “Che” Guevara and legendary Cuban troubadour Pablo Milanés — and why she’s determined to be known for her own voice.
“Sometimes it closes doors, sometimes it opens them,” Guevara told Belly of the Beast journalist Liz Oliva Fernández. “I simply think that what matters in the end is dedicating myself to what I do.”
You can watch our exclusive interview with Camila Guevara Milanés NOW on our Patreon!
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Cuba’s FM: Talks with U.S. “Show No Progress”
In an interview with CNN en Español this week, Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said that negotiations with the Trump administration “show no progress” and have “been accompanied by constant threats against Cuba.”
Despite the lack of progress and unrelenting U.S. hostility, Rodríguez reiterated Cuba’s willingness to continue cooperating with the United States on issues like migration, counterterrorism and drug trafficking.
Rubio Pressures UN Allies on Cuba Debate
As Cuba prepares to present the humanitarian impact of U.S. sanctions before the United Nations next week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is reportedly urging governments to oppose even debating the issue.
According to a leaked State Department cable obtained by The Nation, Rubio instructed U.S. embassies to lobby their respective host countries’ governments to vote against opening a UN General Assembly debate on the Trump administration’s economic war on Cuba. Rubio told U.S. diplomats to encourage allies to criticize Cuba during the debate and to urge nonaligned countries to stay silent. Countries that have traditionally supported ending the embargo were to be told that “the United States will be listening very closely” to their statements on the issue.
Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez denounced U.S. pressure to sway the vote earlier this week. Watch his statements HERE.
The UN General Assembly has voted overwhelmingly 31 consecutive times to condemn the U.S. embargo (also known as “the blockade”) on Cuba. Last year, 165 countries voted against the embargo, while seven voted for its continuation and 12 abstained.
A Cuban American Returns Home After 20 Years Away
After more than 20 years outside Cuba, Cuban-American teacher and activist Lavender Hernández returned to the island, the place her family always considered home.
In Episode 6 of our series U.S. Voices Against the Blockade, Hernández reflects on reconnecting with the island, delivering humanitarian aid to communities struggling under U.S. sanctions and challenging the assumption that Cuban Americans are a political monolith.
"I'm a Cuban American...Cuban first," Hernández says. "I have the responsibility to do something, to fight for the voices of the Cuban people.”
Watch the interview with Lavender HERE.
Cuban Doctors Respond to Venezuelan Earthquakes
While Washington pressures governments across the world to sever ties with Cuba’s international medical missions, Cuban doctors serving on one of those missions are responding to Latin America’s most recent humanitarian crisis.
After powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela last week, members of Cuba's medical brigade were among the first on the scene to provide care in the hardest-hit communities. Cuban search-and-rescue teams also arrived to reinforce relief efforts.
Since the abduction of Nicolás Maduro, the U.S. government has been pressuring Venezuela to end Cuba’s medical mission, but some Cuban health workers still remain.
Miami's Plan to Privatize Cuba's Healthcare
This week, the Miami Herald profiled “911 Cuba,” a Miami-based initiative to rebuild Cuba’s health system “in the event of political change.”
In an astounding act of journalistic omission, the Herald documents Cuba’s healthcare crisis, while failing to mention the maximum pressure sanctions that have caused it. Meanwhile, Herald reporter Sarah Moreno uses the passive voice to avoid mentioning the U.S. oil blockade by name. She writes that “subsidized fuel deliveries to the island were suspended” while neglecting to explain why.
Moreno's article focuses on how Miami-based businesspeople, non-profit organizations and for-profit medical companies are preparing to take over Cuba’s healthcare system after regime change.
The notion that Miami's largely for-profit healthcare industry should "rebuild" Cuba's acclaimed universal public health system is farcical. Before years of intensified U.S. sanctions and the oil blockade, Cuba's community-based health system achieved infant mortality rates and life expectancy on par with the United States and Europe, while maintaining one of the highest doctor-to-patient ratios in the world.
To learn more about how Cuba's healthcare crisis has been fueled by maximum pressure U.S. sanctions, watch our film for Al Jazeera Health Under Sanction.
Capitol Hill Democrats Push Back on Cuba Policy
This week, National Nurses United joined lawmakers outside the Capitol to demand an end to Trump’s economic war against Cuba. Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL), Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-IL) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) spoke at the press conference, where they denounced the weaponization of healthcare, food, fuel and medicine against the Cuban people.
“When you engage the United States Navy, you surround a nation, and you cut off the vital supply — that’s an act of war,” said Rep. Jackson. "There are 10 million people suffering on that island, being denied healthcare, being denied access to medicine, being denied access to equipment.”
These four representatives are part of a growing number of Democrat lawmakers trying to prevent the Trump administration from possible military intervention in Cuba. In a Senate floor speech last month, U.S. Sen. Peter Welch (D-VA) cautioned that the Trump administration is waging an “unauthorized, unjustified, reckless war with Cuba.”
Trump Expands Crackdown on Solidarity Activists
The Trump administration is continuing its campaign against groups that have organized solidarity trips with Cuba. This week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that federal authorities arrested Carlos Antonio Lloga Dominguez, a Cuban national with legal U.S. status, for his alleged past involvement with the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP). He was detained with his wife and child — all three had their legal statuses revoked.
Despite acknowledging that Lloga Dominguez was a lawful resident, the State Department’s press statement warned that “any foreign aliens” linked to ICAP “should expect to soon find themselves on an ICE deportation flight.”
Last month, Rubio sanctioned ICAP under Trump’s May 1 executive order, accusing the organization of exporting “radical left-wing violence through its malign influence network," while neglecting to present any evidence to substantiate this claim. Created in 1960, ICAP has coordinated exchanges to Cuba for solidarity activists and other visitors from around the world.
The arrest follows the persecution of participants who delivered lifesaving aid to Cuba as part of March’s Nuestra América Convoy.
See Liz Oliva Fernández’s interview with one of the convoy's participants, Medea Benjamin, HERE.
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