At the time when the world is too preoccupied with the chaos in the Middle East, another, less noticeable, but much more important crisis is taking place in the Caribbean. The example of Cuba demonstrates that power may be imposed not only by military intervention but also by its absence, by limitations, and by economic suffocation. There are no missiles dropping in Havana, and there are no photos of the battlefield being destroyed. However, what is occurring is like a grind-slow process of warfare, but it is sanctions warfare.

When Donald Trump was speaking to the journalists in Iowa, it appears that he was in his comfort zone, but what he said about the future of Cuba in the short term was anything but thoughtless. In his attempt to project that the country was heading towards a meltdown, he was reenacting an old play in the US policy circles. This is not the first time that such statements have been made. Since the 1959 Cuban Revolution that toppled Fulgencio Batista, Washington has been working on policies to isolate and pressure Havana over the past 60 years. The question, however, is what has changed: the quantity and the enforcement method.

Sanctions are no longer diplomacy but also strategic weapons. Recent increase, especially in the attack on nations that provide fuel to Cuba, has changed an already weak economic backdrop to a complete humanitarian crisis. The impact is immediate whenever the threat of tariffs is raised against countries exporting oil to Cuba: supply chains are shattered. Most of Cuba’s fuel........

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