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Cuba’s crisis was created by its own socialist politicians, not Trump’s blockade

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Cuba’s children returned to school this week in a country running on fumes.

Schools lack teachers, food and reliable electricity. The government had uniforms for just 12% of primary pupils, while some families rely on horse-drawn carts because fuel is scarce.

The suffering is undeniable. Havana’s excuse is not.

The Democratic Socialists of America say Washington “manufactured” the crisis through six decades of blockade. CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin calls President Trump’s latest pressure a “brutal, medieval siege.”

While this year’s effort to choke off oil shipments has plainly intensified Cuba’s fuel shortage, the island was already collapsing way before the Donroe Doctrine came into effect.

Cuba’s own economy minister acknowledged in 2025 that output had fallen more than 10% since 2019. Agriculture, livestock and mining had plunged 53.4% in five years. Manufacturing fell 23%.

Those losses came before Trump’s January energy embargo.

The real culprit is a system that punishes production.

Havana nationalized farms, fixes prices, channels imports through state middlemen and restricts private enterprise. The predictable results are low productivity, chronic shortages and dependence on foreign........

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