Binary move: Cuba accuses the United States of a policy of double standards
The United States is increasing pressure on Cuba's partners. Washington has actively moved from isolating the island itself to a policy of "energy strangulation" and secondary sanctions against third countries and international companies that continue to cooperate with Havana. In Cuba, the actions of the United States are called a policy of double standards. A Cuban informed source told Izvestia that during the negotiations, American diplomats maintain a polite tone, while bellicose statements by President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio run counter to this. In an attempt to overcome the crisis, the country has launched large-scale market reforms. Experts believe that such a move could prevent an American invasion. At the same time, the United States has not lifted any restrictions so far.
Increasing American pressure on Cuba
The United States has consistently tightened the economic blockade of Cuba. Washington has moved from restrictions against itself to large-scale pressure on third countries and foreign companies that continue to do business with the island.
Washington is forcing them to close medical programs with Havana, hitting an important source of income for the island. For example, Grenada officials have been subject to personal visa sanctions by the State Department for refusing to immediately terminate medical agreements with Cuba. The United States also acknowledged that it was conducting "explanatory work" with the government of Saint Lucia, demanding that it stop accepting Cuban doctors. According to the Cuban Foreign Ministry, diplomatic pressure through the United States is also being exerted on Algeria and Angola. Due to pressure from Washington, a number of countries have refused to cooperate with Havana since March 2026, including Honduras, Jamaica, Guyana, Guatemala, Paraguay, the Bahamas and Dominica.
Similar restrictions indirectly affect the residents of Cuba. The United States is waging a daily war against it, cynically measuring success by the suffering of the population from shortages of electricity, gas and medicines, said Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio. The blockade led to the cancellation of operations and an increase in infant mortality.
The White House is trying to inflict the main blow on China, Cuba's largest trading partner and creditor, which supplies telecommunications equipment to the island, including 5G towers. By depriving Havana of income from tourism and the export of medical services, Washington expects to bankrupt the country so that it cannot pay its debts to Beijing.
In these circumstances, the White House is trying to show that it is counting on a diplomatic resolution of the confrontation. On July 1, Donald Trump declared that Cuba was "moving towards the United States," although he had threatened the island with intervention back in June. In Havana, this optimism is considered false. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez stressed that the negotiations had reached an impasse. An informed Cuban source told Izvestia that the United States is pursuing a policy of double standards.
"The diplomats and their American colleagues maintain a polite and official tone at the technical negotiation table, although this behavior is in direct conflict with the political attitudes and bellicose rhetoric that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Trump himself demonstrate outside of these meetings," the source stressed.
According to him, Cuba is always open to diplomatic dialogue based on mutual respect, avoiding the imposition of unilateral demands.
Washington has launched a large-scale campaign of psychological pressure against Havana, said Konstantin Blokhin, a leading researcher at the Center for Security Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences. He noted that after the aggression in Venezuela and Iran, Donald Trump's threats can no longer be perceived as a bluff. According to the expert, the main goal of the White House is to completely oust China and Russia from Latin America. That's why the United States is introducing new restrictions.
Why Cuba started market reforms
In June 2026, the White House launched the most aggressive wave of sanctions against Havana, effectively blocking key sectors of the economy. Cuba has been completely disconnected from the Visa and Mastercard payment systems. CUPET, the national oil and gas company, has also come under attack — now any foreign tanker that delivers fuel to it faces tough secondary US sanctions. Due to similar restrictions against the Cuban logistics operator AUSA, major international carriers began to cancel contracts with Havana en masse in order not to lose access to the American market. Without maritime logistics, the island risks being left without regular supplies of food, medicine, and other critical goods.
The United States has given Cuba an ultimatum: the lifting of sanctions is impossible without the release of political prisoners and market reforms. As a result, the country released over 2,000 people from prison in the spring, and in June it began to introduce the private sector. At the same time, the United States has not yet lifted any restrictions from the island, and the latest package of sanctions has become one of the toughest during the American blockade.
In addition, under the conditions of sanctions, Cuba took an unprecedented step — it urgently launched market reforms. To counter the American blockade, the authorities had to legalize private companies and banks. The reforms were a direct response to the US sanctions strike in June, an informed source in Cuba confirmed to Izvestia.
"These measures are aimed at reviving production, combating shortages and creating jobs by providing greater independence to state—owned enterprises and municipalities, expanding opportunities for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as the private sector, and stimulating foreign direct investment and capital investment by Cubans living abroad," the source said.
According to him, this will create the necessary production environment to overcome the current crisis and increase material wealth.
Egor Lidovskaya, Director General of the Hugo Chavez Latin American Cultural Center, notes that the United States is not going to meet Cuba halfway, since Washington's real goal is not market liberalization, but a complete change of power on the island. However, so far the United States is not interested in direct intervention. At the same time, Havana's reforms give Trump a chance to avoid a new war. The American leader may declare the "fall of the communist regime under pressure from the United States." However, in essence, Cuba will simply switch to socialism with Chinese characteristics and retain sovereignty, Lidovsky concluded. The expert recalls that the position of the American president has already been seriously undermined by the invasion of Iran. Another military intervention, this time in Cuba, will finally bury his rating.
Washington will have to choose between war and recognition of Cuba's economic transformation. By trying to pass off forced reforms as his victory, Trump will only confirm his inability to break the island. As a result, the crisis may end not with a change of power in Cuba, but with the emergence of a stable Chinese-style socialist model right on the borders of the United States.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
