The January 29 executive order by President Donald Trump to blockade oil shipments to Cuba by threatening third party countries with 100 per cent tariffs is unprecedented and against the United National Charter.

That said – not much is stopping Trump these days including sending his wife Melania to address the United Nations Security Council in the wake of attacks on Iran.

The blocking of oil to Cuba is spurring demonstrations around the world in support of Cuba and is also encouraging NGOs and individuals to collect aid to be sent to Cuba. Generators, solar panels, food and medical aid among other items are being filled into containers. Mexico has sent at least four ships full of government aid and also donations from the Mexican people.

Most recently President Trump has said that he may license the sale of oil to private businesses in Cuba. We’ll see how that goes.

In Canada, The Canadian Network on Cuba and local chapters of Cuban solidarity groups are collecting donations, including solar powered generators for hospitals and schools. The federal government recently announced that it would be sending $8 million in humanitarian aid as well. There is hope for more from the federal government since that amount is considered by many to be more like a trial balloon. And it comes the day after billions were pledged to prolong the war in the Ukraine.

The Cuban people have learned resilience through 67 years of economic embargo and the further tightening of that embargo via the Helms-Burton Act applied by the United States in the early 1990s. The ‘Special Period’ in Cuba, which occurred after the Soviet Union was dissolved in 1989, added further ingenuity, particularly when it came to food production. This column in rabble outlines how Cuban food production and agricultural methods were dramatically changed, changes largely to organic methods that  have continued to this day.

Now with this most recent US manoeuvre, the oil blockade, Cuba is stepping up efforts to acquire solar energy panels for hospitals, schools, key installations and residential areas throughout the island. Even motor bikes have moved from gas........

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