Cuba next? (split from Iran, other threads)

[suffolkowner]

China and Vietnam enter the chat.

Are China and Vietnam really communist? Without market driven economic activity? Is Cuba?
Reality is Cuba is closer and maybe Trump needs a distraction from his Iran distraction

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

This is going off thread a bit, but some of us remember a briefly softer socialist Cuba which became a pariah because it had to align with the USSR to resist American aggression. That caused it to foment and support, as a proxy for the USSR, revolutionary ideology and action in South and Central America and Africa.

While the country appears as a nice tourist haven, the countries most supportive of Cuba at this time are Russia and China (and formerly, Venezuela). In the absence of a thorough dive into whatever intelligence there is on Cuban influence operations in the Western hemisphere I'd approach any overtures to them with great caution.

That said, I don't think much of Trump's current approach. The US approach to that country is complex and greatly influenced by past anti-communist prejudices and the Cuban ex-pat community. There have been decades of missed opportunities to bring Cuba into the fold. If anything, the current US actions will drive it away.

It's even a little more than that.

Castro made actual openings to the US shortly after they booted Batista out of there. It wanted a fair and open relationship. Castro was a socialist, but not a Marxist-Leninist, at that point. All he wanted was for the US to keep out of Cuban politics and to accept Cuba as a sovereign nation, in exchange for with, Cuba would accept US corporations operating in Cuba under Cuban rules.

But the Banana companies that made up the banana republic of Batista , who exploited Cubans to enrich themselves like the robber barons they were, could not tolerate ANY interference with their abusive behaviour (not to mention their immoral behaviour they could not get away with inside the US) and they had the ears of the Washington politicians (not to mention their wallets), and in the end, it is they who pushed Cuba into the arms of the USSR. Ever since that day, the US policy towards Cuba has been the one punishing them for what they are and actually making their government failure 9if any) what it is today with incredibly punishing sanctions that few nations could have withstood for so long.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Appearances can be deceiving...

Trump Thinks Cuba is Another Venezuela. Here’s Why He’s Wrong.​

As protests grip Cuba, some in D.C. see a replay of Caracas — but the reality is far more complicated.

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2026/03/21/trump-cuba-protests-perspective-00836477