Trump's Oil Embargo on Cuba is Counterproductive and Harmful to Ordinary Cubans
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/sara-kozameh. "In the other US target of regime change, Cuba, I saw real hardship – and resilience | Sara Kozameh | The Guardian." March 9, 2026. www.theguardian.com
The Gist
The author argues that Trump's oil embargo on Cuba is backfiring badly. Instead of weakening the Cuban government, it's making ordinary people suffer while actually bringing them together against the US. Based on her recent trip to Cuba, she says this policy is both cruel and ineffective.
Conclusion
The Trump administration's petroleum blockade of Cuba is a failed policy that causes severe hardship to ordinary Cubans while strengthening their resolve against US intervention
Premises
- Trump's executive order and tariff threats have successfully cut off Cuba's oil imports from Venezuela and Mexico, creating severe shortages
- The oil embargo has caused massive daily hardships for ordinary Cubans, including 18-hour power outages, food price inflation, and disrupted communication
- The current crisis feels worse to Cubans than the 'special period' following the Soviet Union's collapse, when GDP dropped 35%
- Despite economic hardship, the petroleum blockade is uniting Cubans against US intervention rather than turning them against their government
- Historical evidence shows economic sanctions typically fail to achieve regime change and often backfire by harming innocent people
- Cubans are 'resolute nationalists' who have repeatedly fought for independence, even when it meant opposing the US
Assumptions
- Economic sanctions are primarily intended to achieve regime change rather than other policy goals
- The suffering of ordinary people should be a primary consideration in foreign policy decisions
- Historical patterns of Cuban resistance to foreign intervention will continue
- Unity against external threats strengthens rather than weakens authoritarian governments
- The author's interviews with 70-80 people provide representative insight into broader Cuban public opinion