Human Rights and Global Wrongs

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In accordance with Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s long-standing vendetta against Cuba, Donald Trump issued an executive order on January 29 aimed at tightening the U.S. noose around Cuba’s neck.

Trump’s order preposterously declared Cuba “an unusual and extraordinary threat,” without providing a shred of evidence, and warned that he would impose punitive tariffs on states that deliver fuel to Cuba. His intention is to suffocate the Cuban people, who rely on oil for 80 percent of their electricity.

UN human rights experts called Trump’s order “a serious violation of international law” and “an extreme form of unilateral economic coercion with extraterritorial effects, through which the United States seeks to exert coercion on the sovereign state of Cuba and compel other sovereign third States to alter their lawful commercial relations, under threat of punitive trade measures.”

On February 20, however, the Supreme Court struck down Trump’s massive tariffs because they exceeded authority delegated by Congress under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The IEEPA authorizes the president to regulate commerce during national emergencies created by foreign threats.

Later that day, in response to the court’s decision, Trump issued an executive order ending IEEPA-based tariffs, including those that would penalize countries that ship oil to Cuba. That order stops the collection of all IEEPA tariffs, including those threatened in the January 29 Cuba emergency order.

US Relied on Illegal Sanctions to Seize Venezuelan Oil Tanker

Trump’s attempt to tighten the fuel blockade of Cuba came on the heels of the U.S. oil blockade of Venezuela, which had supplied more than 50 percent of Cuba’s oil. Countries that provided Cuba with oil, particularly Mexico, halted their shipments after January 29.

“Trump’s resort to piracy on the high seas, kidnapping of foreign leaders, and unconstitutional misuse of tariffs to starve the Cuban people into submission is a cruel but pathetic example of the decline in U.S. domination of the hemisphere.”

“Trump’s resort to piracy on the high seas, kidnapping of foreign leaders, and unconstitutional misuse of tariffs to starve the Cuban people into submission is a cruel but pathetic example of the decline in U.S. domination of the hemisphere.”

The U.S. has imposed on Cuba a naval blockade, which is considered an act of war. The Trump administration is militarily seizing oil tankers attempting to deliver fuel to Cuba. On February 20, The New York Times reported that “in recent days, vessels roaming the Caribbean Sea in search of fuel for Cuba have come up empty or been intercepted by the U.S. authorities.” Last week, “the U.S. Coast Guard intercepted a tanker full of Colombian fuel oil en route to Cuba that had gotten within 70 miles of the island.”

A U.S. official anonymously told the Times that “the Coast Guard’s interception of the tanker headed to Cuba last week was part of a blockade that the Trump administration has not yet announced.”

Oil shipments to Cuba have virtually stopped. The lack of electricity has led to widespread blackouts, impacting hospitals and essential services. Cuba’s oil reserves could be totally depleted by March.

Meanwhile, as this article went to press, the crew of a U.S. speedboat registered in Florida came within a nautical mile of Cuba’s coast. After the crew opened fire on Cuban troops, injuring the vessel’s commander, the Cuban forces returned fire, killing four crew members and wounding six, according to a statement by Cuba’s Interior Ministry. The wounded were reportedly receiving medical attention.

“In the face of current challenges, Cuba reaffirms its determination to protect its territorial waters, based on the principle that national defense is a fundamental pillar of the Cuban State in safeguarding its sovereignty and ensuring stability in the region,” the ministry said.

The Long-Standing U.S. Blockade of Cuba Is Illegal

For 67 years, the U.S. government has maintained a vicious and illegal embargo/blockade of Cuba.

After the 1959 Cuban Revolution, the Eisenhower administration declared a partial embargo on trade with Cuba to pressure the people to overthrow their new government. The embargo was a response to a secret State Department memorandum that proposed “a line of action which, while as adroit and inconspicuous as possible, makes the greatest inroads in denying money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government.”........

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