Under the dubious guise of a supposed interest in the well-being of the Cuban people, successive U.S. administrations have persisted—since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution—in their desire to destroy it.
To that end, the Cuban economy has been subjected for more than 60 years to "the longest and most integrated regime of coercive measures ever applied against any country or government," in the words of Alejandro García del Toro, Deputy Director General of the Directorate General for the United States at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during his appearance last Tuesday on the program Mesa Redonda.
Undoubtedly, one of the most critical points of this hostile and genocidal policy was the new Executive Order issued by the White House on May 1st, with which they no longer need lies to hide their strategy of plunging the Cuban people into a crisis that will lead to internal unrest and encourage U.S. intervention.
SOME BACKGROUND:
1970s: Prohibition on countries exporting finished products to the U.S. that contained Cuban sugar.
1970s to the present: The U.S. has prohibited companies from third countries from exporting Cuban nickel to the United States (technology, machinery, transportation equipment, technological or communications equipment).
1996: With the Helms-Burton Act and its 1992 predecessor, the U.S. expanded the extraterritorial effects of its economic sanctions against Cuba. Through blackmail and intimidation, U.S. embassies worldwide targeted Cuban exports and investments on the island, combining pressure to prevent exporters and investors from engaging with the Cuban economy.
FROM THE CURRENT U.S. ADMINISTRATION:
Reinstation of Cuba on the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, with repercussions for the banking sector.
Implementation of travel restrictions to Cuba.
Reinstatement of Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, which has a significant intimidating effect.
Executive Order of January 29, 2026: limits each country's sovereign prerogative to determine the export of its national products, and cuts off Cuba's access to fuel for daily life.
*During its first term, this administration had implemented more than 243 unilateral coercive measures against Cuba.
SHARED OBJECTIVES:
To stifle the Cuban economy.
To destroy production.
To restrict Cuba's export capacity.
To control the island's economic structure.
EXECUTIVE ORDER OF MAY 1, 2026:
Exacerbated extraterritorial character.
Effective on May 1st.
Establishes that there is no need to notify those affected: a company or person that has a connection to or exports any product to Cuba does not necessarily have to be notified for their assets, accounts in U.S. banks, or businesses in the United States to be frozen or blocked.
Seeks to intimidate, prohibit, and nullify the Island's ability to connect its banking system and economy with the rest of the world. Reflects the clear objective of the U.S. Government to take control of Cuba in the medium term, according to its objectives.
A desperate attempt to implement a policy that leaves Cuba and its Government with virtually no options to operate the national economy.
The new measures especially affect key sectors such as energy, mining, and financial services.
Establishes secondary sanctions beyond energy, fuels, and their derivatives.
They are trying to prevent Cuba from using the sun, air and water rationally, and from developing technologies associated with harnessing renewable energy sources.
EXTRATERRITORIAL REACH:
Ariadna Cornelio Hitchman, a specialist with the Legal Affairs and Analysis Department of the U.S. Affairs Office, stated that this new executive order has a distinct and expanded dimension regarding the extraterritorial and illegal effects of U.S. policy to date:
Individuals, financial institutions, and banks with ties to the Cuban government can have their assets in the U.S. frozen, even if their businesses in U.S. territory have absolutely nothing to do with Cuba.
It targets any "foreign or U.S." entity operating in sectors vital to generating foreign currency for the island.
It attempts to involve third countries in the application of these coercive measures.
It prevents the arrival of essential medical supplies, a demonstration of solidarity from sister nations: attacking anything that could help, anything that could arrive and improve the lives of the Cuban people.
PSYCHOLOGICAL STRATEGY:
Based on a long-standing and enduring hatred of the Revolution, the Cuban nation, and absolute contempt for the Cuban people.
Designed to destroy and cripple the Cuban economy, to create as many hardships and shortages as possible.
"Find the source of income, find out how the country works, and do everything to make sure none of it works." (Mauricio Claver-Carone, architect of the 234 measures against Cuba).
They not only try to make the victim feel guilty, but they also use them so that, after making them suffer as many shortages as possible and making them feel they have no way out, they give them the impetus to generate chaos, a situation of social imbalance that justifies a potentially more aggressive action, such as a military attack, under the pretext of a supposed humanitarian crisis.
On February 16th, high-ranking U.S. officials stated that Cuba was a nation in dire straits and that "they don't even have fuel."
On March 30th, the White House spokeswoman stated: "There is no formal change in sanctions policy. We reserve the right to seize ships if the law allows it."
On April 15th, the Secretary of State told Al Jazeera: "We have not taken any punitive measures against Cuba. The blackouts have nothing to do with us." Meanwhile, the Secretary of Energy asserted: "We want to force change and let the people be free."
May 1st: Threat to position an aircraft carrier 90 meters off the Cuban coast. And the assertion: "They will surrender."
Source: Mesa Redonda program
