2025 U.S. - Venezuela conflict

[Colin Parkinson]

There was a lot of things the Cuban Communists could have done to ease sanctions over the years, and for awhile they looked like they were going in the right direction, then the hardliners put their foot down and walked back those reforms, preferring to rule a dung heap, rather than slowly give up their grip on power.

 

[Eaglelord17]

Someone remind me what, in the year 2026, is the purported justification for a continued U.S. economic sanctions regime and oil blockade on Cuba?

The US is still mad that their companies lost money from assets seized when the Communists took over from the brutal dictatorship that the US favoured. Any attempt to blame the blockade on ‘dictatorships’ is just a lie, the US has no issues with dictatorships, as long as they play ball in America’s favour. Look at Iran right now, they have been mad there for almost 50 years because the brutal monarch which favoured the US was replaced.

This has nothing to do with what is morally right, the US doesn’t care about that, they only care about their pocket books and who is playing ball with them. Cuba does not and as such is punished for it.

 

[Cloud Cover]

Seen on the former bird app tonight:

Congratulations to Cuba on reaching true net zero.
BZ!

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

The US is still mad that their companies lost money from assets seized when the Communists took over from the brutal dictatorship that the US favoured. Any attempt to blame the blockade on ‘dictatorships’ is just a lie, the US has no issues with dictatorships, as long as they play ball in America’s favour. Look at Iran right now, they have been mad there for almost 50 years because the brutal monarch which favoured the US was replaced.

This has nothing to do with what is morally right, the US doesn’t care about that, they only care about their pocket books and who is playing ball with them. Cuba does not and as such is punished for it.

By seized, you mean stole, right? That is Ultimately what this is about. If there were no consequences for those actions, the US would be seen as toothless and everyone would be doing it

 

[McG]

After more than 65 years, any appearance of American “toothlessness” is not going to be influenced by Trump starting a war of conquest or otherwise subjugating a neighbour. Such a thing would only reinforce other negative visions (expansionist, colonialist, warmonger, unstable).

 

[Remius]

By seized, you mean stole, right? That is Ultimately what this is about. If there were no consequences for those actions, the US would be seen as toothless and everyone would be doing it

Consequences after 65years? Who are they showing their teeth to exactly by doing that? Who else in the world might be seizing and stealing that will take that as any sort of real message?

 

[dapaterson]

By seized, you mean stole, right? That is Ultimately what this is about. If there were no consequences for those actions, the US would be seen as toothless and everyone would be doing it

Hawaii enters the chat.

 

[Kirkhill]

Meh.... so is Vietnam, and they're on the Board of Peace.

Vietnam isn't 90 miles off of Key West.

 

[Brad Sallows]

Many of the former dictatorships of the Americas have improved over the past decades. A few have not; Cuba is one of them. Overall it has taken decades, and those which have experienced some useful change mostly did it themselves. Is whether the dictatorships were right-coded or left-coded a mitigating/militating factor, I wonder?

Try searching "[country name here] end of dictatorship". The AI-assisted results for Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela are amusing: it discusses the matter as future events.

 

[Eaglelord17]

By seized, you mean stole, right? That is Ultimately what this is about. If there were no consequences for those actions, the US would be seen as toothless and everyone would be doing it

Nationalized, stole, who cares? The Cubans even offered to pay for it initially but the US refused due to it not being the way they wanted. I believe the term when a government seizes assets and offers compensation is expropriation which is legal everywhere.

There is also reasons why they nationalized it such as American companies being told what to do with the assets and refusing to work for the Cubans (such as the US oil companies refusing to refine Soviet oil).

I can tell you for a fact the States wouldn’t tolerate a foreign country telling their companies to actively work against America with assets in America, they would forcably nationalize or make American companies take over (see tik tok as a example, and even then they aren’t actively working against America).

Most of the American issue with Cuba is a very long temper tantrum that they didn’t get their way. It is more about them not being in control of the situation than anything else.

If the ‘stolen’ part is such a big deal maybe America should start repaying all the countries and people they have stolen from. Trillions owed to the natives, billions to the British, Hawaiians, etc. But wait that’s different right?

 

[Colin Parkinson]

The US is still mad that their companies lost money from assets seized when the Communists took over from the brutal dictatorship that the US favoured. Any attempt to blame the blockade on ‘dictatorships’ is just a lie, the US has no issues with dictatorships, as long as they play ball in America’s favour. Look at Iran right now, they have been mad there for almost 50 years because the brutal monarch which favoured the US was replaced.

This has nothing to do with what is morally right, the US doesn’t care about that, they only care about their pocket books and who is playing ball with them. Cuba does not and as such is punished for it.

Yes, the US backed side were bastards, but the Communists were even bigger bastards and also sent their bastards all over the place to cause trouble and death. They also allowed the USSR to set up missiles there to threaten the US. There is no way the US will ever allow that to happen again. The type of communism that Cuba represents was responsible for the deaths of 50-120 million people in the 20th century. We should treat them the same as we do Nazi's.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Protestors in Cuba burn the Communist headquarters

 

[Eaglelord17]

Yes, the US backed side were bastards, but the Communists were even bigger bastards and also sent their bastards all over the place to cause trouble and death. They also allowed the USSR to set up missiles there to threaten the US. There is no way the US will ever allow that to happen again. The type of communism that Cuba represents was responsible for the deaths of 50-120 million people in the 20th century. We should treat them the same as we do Nazi's.

Why would the USSR want missiles there, was it maybe in direct response to the US setting up missiles in Turkey and threatening the USSR?

Either way that was a lifetime ago. Those belligerents on both sides are long gone. There is governments a lot worse than Cuba which the US does business with so this isn’t about morals.

If they were truly taking a stance against dealing with dictators, communists, etc. I would see the embargo as justified. Because they aren’t it is just hypocritical nonsense they throw out there to muddy the waters on their illegal blockade.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

It takes time and effort to keep Cuba under check and there is no guarantee that the regime would not attempt to do anything stupid again. Good riddance to them.