"Hostile Foreign Power"

On August 20th, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed off on another series of unilateral coercive measures against the Cuban people. To justify them, he alluded to the American internationalist brigade that, amid pressure and persecution, decided to visit the island once again, this time to participate in the commemoration of Fidel Castro’s centennial.
Around that time, in a quick, informal conversation in the corridors of the Havana Convention Center, one of the delegation leaders told Granma that in the U.S., people aren’t afraid of them. The State Department already made several references to the activist in its July 20th report—it seems the 20th is a closing day in Washington—"Cuba: The Capital of Communism in the 21st Century."
The new package of sanctions against Cuba accuses its government of deceiving and corrupting U.S. citizens and labels it a "hostile foreign power." As the old saying goes, when one finger points, three others point at the accuser's chest.
It's surprising, though not unprecedented, that the world's largest military force, its weapons practically smelling of gunpowder right now, holds a small island nation in such "high esteem." Is the fear real? If so… fear of what?
In the summer of 2005, Diego Armando Maradona interviewed the Commander-in-Chief for an Argentine television station. His first question: "You said about Latin America that we could have been everything and we were nothing. What did you mean by that?"
"I would dare to confirm it," Fidel replied. "We can be everything and we are nothing. But… we will be much. I would add: many of us will be much. (…) This sustained crisis in the hemisphere has no other path but to change. There is no other path than to come together, despite our weaknesses, despite our shortcomings. Sharing is the true path, the path to unity. That unity depends less and less on individuals and a little more on crises. Latin America has no alternative but to unite."
They spoke of Che Guevara, the assassination attempts against the Cuban leader, Operation Miracle, the nascent Henry Reeve International Brigade and its first mission in Pakistan, the role of women… Among so many things, another question arose, the answer to which speaks to Cuba and the world today:
"How do you envision Cuba’s future when you are no longer on the stage?"
"I envision it as a great moral power. With a high level of dignity… As a country that demonstrates the meaning of human capital, the advantages of education, what can be done with people, what a small country can do, even under blockade. We have already moved away from those well-trodden paths of plunder. It is so real that I cannot say it calmly. No one can stop it. We are invulnerable. And I am not exaggerating. How? I won’t say. They know it. However much they sometimes underestimate those here."
Just over 20 years later, for some reason, the U.S. considers these ideas a threat to its existence.