Comment by lefrenchy
7 days ago
Am I crazy for thinking this is possibly a US cyber attack on the infrastructure to justify Trump's coming actions?
7 days ago
Am I crazy for thinking this is possibly a US cyber attack on the infrastructure to justify Trump's coming actions?
Uhh yes? The country has been blockaded from receiving fuel. While there could be a more clever attack, the overt one is enough to do all of the damage.
The country has categorically not been blockaded. A blockade is an act of war where a country prevents all trade regardless of origin.
Cuba has been embargoed which prevents US owned businesses, as well as any businesses which operate in the US, from trading with it. An embargo is not an act of war, it's a way for market economies to apply economic pressure using their soft power. It's not enforced by the military away from the territory of the country placing the embargo and is instead enforced domestically using the police.
Large oil-producing countries that traded with Cuba include Venezuela, Russia (the USSR before 1990), China, and Iran. Market democracies are all pretty OK with the embargo, because trade with a country that doesn't recognize property rights is inherently fraught.
Technically the US did blockade Cuba from receiving oil, specifically from Venezuela. Blocking tankers, boarding them, and even confiscating them.
The embargo continues, as it has for decades, but the oil blockade is a real thing.
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Of those countries, only China remains relatively unencumbered and they've limited exports for internal reasons. There were also a few other source countries like Mexico, Brazil, and Algeria. Algeria stopped years ago because of internal issues. Mexico and Brazil stopped after pressure from the US. That leaves Cuba's domestic production, which is limited to begin with and can't be refined in any sufficient quantity.
Use whatever word you want to use to describe the situation, but the practical result strongly resembles a blockade.
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