“Cuba will be failing pretty soon.” That is what President Trump said on Tuesday. What is this about? Cuba is under longstanding trade embargoes, which means it has to work around normal channels to obtain oil. Previously, it relied heavily on shipments from Venezuela, but those supplies have been cut off after the Trump administration’s intervention there. Cuba then turned to Mexico, but the U.S. pressured Mexico to stop sending oil as well. Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, said she would not comply with those orders but then she did. There was reportedly no oil shipment to Cuba from Mexico in January. China has condemned this action. A spokesperson said that “China is deeply concerned about and strongly condemns the U.S. moves, and urges the U.S. to stop depriving the Cuban people of their rights to subsistence and development, stop disrupting regional peace and stability, stop its violations of international law, and immediately lift its blockade and sanctions against.” Why would China care? Because China and Cuba are trade partners and it sees U.S. pressure on Havana as part of a broader regional contest between Washington and Beijing. Could that be the real reason the U.S. is willing to harm Cuban citizens? Why otherwise would the U.S. withhold critical resources from a country already impoverished by decades of sanctions? Cuba is not a meaningful military or geopolitical threat to the United States. Sanctions are a slow burn of mass destruction and a torture inflicted primarily on ordinary people. This is an age-old tactic of economic isolation used as leverage. So why deploy it now? Is it really to provoke China or for another reason? The post Cuba Isn’t a Threat. So Why Is Washington Trying to Break It? appeared first on Redacted.