By signing the decree, the president declared an emergency situation. As he explained, “the Cuban government is taking extraordinary actions that harm and threaten the United States.”
“The regime aligns itself with — and provides support to — numerous hostile states, transnational terrorist groups, and entities hostile to the United States, including the government of the Russian Federation (Russia), the People's Republic of China (PRC), the government of Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah,” Trump wrote.
What sanctions did Donald Trump impose?
What threatens the United States according to Trump?
Which countries support the Cuban government?
What are Cuba's sources of oil supplies?
The US Supreme Court is currently considering a case regarding the legality of tariffs previously imposed by Trump under the IEEPA Act, which authorizes the president to announce economic sanctions in the event of an emergency.
Cuba in Donald Trump's crosshairs
The media have reported in recent days that the US presidential administration is considering how it can bring about the fall of the regime in Cuba. According to the Politico website, one of the solutions being considered is the introduction of a complete maritime blockade of oil supplies to the island.
Cuba depends on its imports. The Trump administration has already blocked supplies of this raw material to the island from Venezuela. The Cubans' other two largest oil suppliers are Mexico and Russia. As the New York Times wrote in mid-January, Cuba has supplies of imported raw materials sufficient for less than two months.
On Tuesday, Trump said that communist rule in Cuba would soon fall after it was cut off from Venezuelan oil supplies.
As reported by the Wall Street Journal, the US presidential administration is actively working to change the government in Cuba by the end of the year. “WSJ” wrote that after the overthrow of Nicolas Maduro, whose rule was the main source of support for Cuba, the Trump administration considers the Cuban economy to be close to collapse. Although, according to sources in the administration, the White House does not have a specific plan to carry out a coup in Havana, it considers the Venezuelan scenario, i.e. concluding a deal with people inside the regime, as an example to follow.
