On Tuesday, the United States extended for another year the trade embargo it has imposed on Cuba for decades, prompting an angry reaction from the island’s communist government.
U.S. President John F. Kennedy first imposed the embargo in 1962, citing the “Trading with the Enemy Act,” (Trading with the Enemy Act), which allows Washington to restrict trade with countries it considers hostile.
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Since 1978, every U.S. president has renewed this provision on an annual basis.
Tuesday’s extension, therefore, came as no surprise, but it comes at one of the most difficult times in Cuba’s modern history.
The island’s residents face regular power outages, as well as chronic shortages of food and fuel.
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The Cuban government attributes the crisis, among other things, to the U.S. energy embargo imposed on Cuba in January, as well as to other punitive measures. Washington, on the other hand, attributes the difficulties to the country’s poor domestic management.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez condemned the extension “in the strongest possible terms,” as he wrote on X.
He described the embargo as a “genocidal policy” and accused Washington of being “determined to strangle an entire nation.”
U.S. President Donald Trump, who has even openly mentioned the possibility of invading the island, has imposed more measures against Havana since taking office for a second term.
These include the energy embargo, which prevents the import of fuel into Cuba, as well as sanctions against entities linked to the Cuban government.
Source: Kype
