Finian Cunningham
How much aggression is Moscow and Beijing going to let the American psycho regime get away with before it's too late?
The Trump regime has escalated the decades-long illegal U.S. embargo on Cuba to a full-on economic war. The Caribbean island nation of 11 million, in the midst of recovering from a hurricane disaster just three months ago, is facing an existential crisis due to a fuel blockade after Trump announced a total cut-off in oil shipments.
Yet the American thug has perversely declared Cuba a "threat to U.S. national security," thereby giving himself license to impose genocidal suffering.
Washington has halted all shipments from Venezuela after the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January. Caracas had been a lifeline to the socialist ally for receiving oil supplies. Now, Trump has ordered all countries to cease sending fuel exports to Cuba under pain of economic sanctions and seizure of ships.
The situation in Cuba is critical. President Miguel Díaz-Canel has ordered emergency rationing as the country is hit with rolling blackouts. "Not allowing a single drop of fuel to enter our country will affect transportation, food production, tourism, children's education, and the healthcare system," he said.
Russia and China have condemned the U.S. aggression against Cuba. Moscow has promised to continue supplying crude oil despite the threat of American sanctions. China has also expressed solidarity with the supply of food aid and solar technology to boost Cuba's growing network of renewable energy sources.
But Russia and China should be doing more to defend an ally in need under the principle that an attack on one of us is an attack on all.
Time is of the essence. The Trump regime has Cuba in its crosshairs for regime change. The assault on Venezuela and the ongoing aggression against Iran with impunity seem to have emboldened Washington to ratchet up the pressure on Havana.
Trump and his minions, like Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban emigrants, are salivating at the prospect of bringing Cuba to its knees and finally destroying the revolution that has defied relentless American hostility for more than 65 years.
In 1959, the Cuban revolution led by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara transformed the impoverished country from a U.S.-backed dictatorship into a beacon of hope for the world, showing that socialism was a feasible liberation from the poverty, squalor, and degradation typical of American-style capitalism. Cuba became the "threat of a good example" in Washington's presumed backyard.
For more than six decades, the U.S. has imposed an illegal economic embargo on Cuba in flagrant violation of international law and the UN Charter. Every year for the past 30 years, the United Nations' general assembly votes overwhelmingly, calling for the U.S. to end its economic aggression.
In addition to economic strangulation, the United States has waged a campaign of state terrorism and psychological operations for regime change. Ron Ridenour recounts in Killing Democracy how the CIA carried out countless attempts to assassinate Fidel Castro and other acts of aggression, such as the bombing of a civilian airliner in 1976, killing all 73 people on board. The CIA also attacked the island with bioweapons to destroy Cuba's agriculture.
The Cuban people were also threatened with nuclear annihilation during the 1962 missile crisis, when Cuba tried to defend itself by installing Soviet Union nuclear weapons. The Americans wouldn't tolerate that, even though the U.S. presumes the right to place its missiles on the borders of other nations.
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Cuba underwent an economic shock due to the loss of trade. It took years of innovation and improvisation for the island to recover, which it did with the help of continuing support from Russia and China, as well as the vital new lifeline of oil supply from socialist Venezuela over the past 25 years.
The cutting off of Venezuelan oil by Trump has plunged Cuba into acute crisis. This is on top of the island being hit by Hurricane Melissa last October.
In an act of sickening hypocrisy, the Trump administration announced last week a proposal of $6 million in "humanitarian aid" ostensibly because of the hurricane damage. Havana condemned what it said was U.S. economic warfare, causing suffering to the entire population, and then throwing "cans of soup to aid a few people."
There are signs that Russia is ramping up its military assistance to Cuba. An Ilyushin IL-76 cargo landed on February 1 at the San Antonio de Los Baños airbase, 50 kilometers from Havana. It is believed the cargo included air defense systems.
A similar Russian maneuver happened last October in Venezuela when an IL-76 cargo plane landed amid building tensions with the United States. That was viewed as Russia lending support to Caracas. As it turned out, Russian defenses were lacking when U.S. commandos raided Caracas on January 3 to kidnap President Maduro and his wife. It is speculated that the Venezuelans were not sufficiently trained to operate the Russian weapons.
Moscow must ensure that the same mistake does not happen in Cuba. The two historic allies signed a renewed military cooperation agreement in March 2025. Last month, on January 21, Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Alexandrovich Kolokoltsev, accompanied by a delegation of Russian military personnel, held talks with Cuba's leaders in Havana.
Russia and China should move decisively to let Washington know to take its hands off Cuba. More IL-76 deliveries are needed.
Why not send oil cargo tankers accompanied by Russian and Chinese warships to freedom of navigation under international law?
China should drop a warning by selling more U.S. Treasury bonds and letting Washington know that its economy is at risk of a dollar sell-off.
Some will caution that such moves may antagonize Washington into all-out war. Maybe. But what's the alternative ? More aggression from the American hyenas as they stalk a herd, picking off the weaker members one by one?
Cuba has long been a courageous inspiration for socialism and more humane development. Russia and China owe Cuba active solidarity, and they need to defend their call for a multipolar world free from U.S. hegemony. The time to act is now.
This is a matter of moral and humanitarian solidarity with a nation that is coming under barbaric aggression from a heartless empire. More than that, however, is that if Cuba falls, then it will be only a matter of time before the U.S. empire steps up its targeting of Russia and China. Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela, Taiwan, Iran, Cuba... how much aggression is Moscow and Beijing going to let the American psycho regime get away with before it's too late?
Finian Cunningham is coauthor of Killing Democracy
Former editor and writer for major news media organizations. He has written extensively on international affairs, with articles published in several languages