US blockade of Cuba

[Vixen]

Trump's professed hostility and antagonism to Cuba continues unabated. His indifferent cruelty towards ordinary people continues with oil blockades causing lengthy blackouts of power.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2035704931470979139

 

[Vixen]

Reuters reports that an aid flotilla has arrived in Cuba. Crowds gathering.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2036414523008229393

 

[Brainster]

Reuters reports that an aid flotilla has arrived in Cuba. Crowds gathering.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2036414523008229393

The aid flotilla members trust fund babies stayed at a five-star hotel and enjoyed a concert while the rest of the country experienced a blackout. Here's a video taken by an angry Cuban showing the blackout everywhere except that hotel. Can't have the Code Pinkos experiencing what life is like for ordinary Cubans,

 

[thaiboxerken]

I wonder why Putin has Trump doing this.

 

[LiteBright]

Its disgusting what america is doing to Cuba and sad that amongst all the other trouble in the world, it is getting little attention as people suffer.

 

[LiteBright]

The aid flotilla members trust fund babies stayed at a five-star hotel and enjoyed a concert while the rest of the country experienced a blackout. Here's a video taken by an angry Cuban showing the blackout everywhere except that hotel. Can't have the Code Pinkos experiencing what life is like for ordinary Cubans,

Do you have any independent corroboration of this other than one rando on twitter? I couldn't find any and the translation of this doesn't seem to be saying what you claim it to be saying although it could just be a bad translation. I am guessing you have some other source given that you mentioned a concert which is nowhere to be found in the tweet.

I am familiar with this area and that lighted building is the Gran Bristol Hotel. But all this undated video shows is the hotel lit up while the rest of the city is not.

The english translation says: Here are the communist rats who came to #Cuba to explain the energy transition and that we are bad, and that everything is the fault of the blockade or energy only for them. At the Grand Bristol Hotel.

"Explain the energy transition and that we are bad" Huh? Unless the poster is severely confused, its hard to believe he is referencing foreign aid with this comment.

While some of the parties involved with the various aid flotillas could be described as communist or communist adjacent, this doesn't sound like any sort of reference to visitors bringing aid. He seems to be more angry with the communist regime (which he has every right to be) and at outsiders propping it up (specific ones or not) who are staying in the lap of luxury while the rest of Cuba suffers. Again, no reference to any foreign aid flotilla here.

 

[Vixen]

The aid flotilla members trust fund babies stayed at a five-star hotel and enjoyed a concert while the rest of the country experienced a blackout. Here's a video taken by an angry Cuban showing the blackout everywhere except that hotel. Can't have the Code Pinkos experiencing what life is like for ordinary Cubans,

That's reaching! It's unrealistic of you to expect the volunteer helpers to sleep on the streets. If the hotel had it's own generator, so what? As for a concert, what's wrong in creating a feel-good factor? 'Cuuu- Ba! I luv, I luv, I luv her...'

 

[Brainster]

I am familiar with this area and that lighted building is the Gran Bristol Hotel. But all this undated video shows is the hotel lit up while the rest of the city is not.

The english translation says: Here are the communist rats who came to #Cuba to explain the energy transition and that we are bad, and that everything is the fault of the blockade or energy only for them. At the Grand Bristol Hotel.

"Explain the energy transition and that we are bad" Huh? Unless the poster is severely confused, its hard to believe he is referencing foreign aid with this comment.

The energy transition apparently refers to solar power, which Cuba has been pushing and which was indeed part of the foreign aid:

Solar panels, food and medicine to treat cancer are among the products donated to the island, which has been brought to a near standstill since Trump imposed an energy embargo in January, exacerbating a five-year economic crisis as his administration pressures for a change in the political system.

While some of the parties involved with the various aid flotillas could be described as communist or communist adjacent, this doesn't sound like any sort of reference to visitors bringing aid. He seems to be more angry with the communist regime (which he has every right to be) and at outsiders propping it up (specific ones or not) who are staying in the lap of luxury while the rest of Cuba suffers. Again, no reference to any foreign aid flotilla here.

"Here are the communist rats who came to #Cuba..." Seems to be referring to the flotilla pretty specifically.

 

[Brainster]

That's reaching! It's unrealistic of you to expect the volunteer helpers to sleep on the streets. If the hotel had it's own generator, so what? As for a concert, what's wrong in creating a feel-good factor? 'Cuuu- Ba! I luv, I luv, I luv her...'

What does that hotel's generator run on and why are there blackouts?

 

[LiteBright]

So

The energy transition apparently refers to solar power, which Cuba has been pushing and which was indeed part of the foreign aid:




"Here are the communist rats who came to #Cuba..." Seems to be referring to the flotilla pretty specifically.

So in other words, no corroboration. What about the concert claim? Any evidence of that?

Have to agree with Vixen, you are reaching pretty far here. The fact that foreigners are providing solar panels in an energy crisis is hardly indicative of a larger energy transition and "communist rats who came to Cuba" isn't specific enough to conclude that it is in reference to the flotilla.

If that poster is indeed talking about it, he seems to be utterly confused about who his tormentors are considering its the US that is blockading the island and the foreign aid is coming from NGOs and mostly non-american countries. Beyond that, the fact that one rando makes an angry tweet is hardly indicative of a wider Cuban backlash against the foreign aid.

Your assertions seem to be cynicism masquerading as skepticism.

 

[Brainster]

So


So in other words, no corroboration. What about the concert claim? Any evidence of that?

Try googling Code Pink concert Cuba, some Irish rap band (egad!) performed. There are some who are claiming that the concert led to the blackouts, which seems a stretch, but it still had to use power that could probably have been better used elsewhere. Ditto with the hotel.

 

[LiteBright]

Try googling Code Pink concert Cuba, some Irish rap band (egad!) performed. There are some who are claiming that the concert led to the blackouts, which seems a stretch, but it still had to use power that could probably have been better used elsewhere. Ditto with the hotel.

Your claim, your burden of proof. But in any event it really doesn't matter. The fact that you are trying to pin Cuba's problems on an aid flotilla just because it may be less than perfect while simultaneously ignoring the role of your own government in the suffering of millions on the island speaks volumes.

You may not be a trumper but you sure do go out of your way to sound exactly like one with your cruel indifference to the suffering of people who aren't ideologically aligned with you.

 

[theprestige]

Your claim, your burden of proof. But in any event it really doesn't matter. The fact that you are trying to pin Cuba's problems on an aid flotilla just because it may be less than perfect while simultaneously ignoring the role of your own government in the suffering of millions on the island speaks volumes.

You may not be a trumper but you sure do go out of your way to sound exactly like one with your cruel indifference to the suffering of people who aren't ideologically aligned with you.

If it were me, I'd be pinning the blame on Cuba's dictatorial regime, and calling out Code Pink as useful idiots for the regime.

 

[dann]

The aid flotilla members trust fund babies stayed at a five-star hotel and enjoyed a concert while the rest of the country experienced a blackout. Here's a video taken by an angry Cuban showing the blackout everywhere except that hotel. Can't have the Code Pinkos experiencing what life is like for ordinary Cubans,

The "Code Pinkos" are there because they know what the oil blockade is doing to "what life is like for ordinary Cubans."
Hotels are a source for income for Cuba, i.e. tourists will obviously still be taken care of if at all possible:

Tourism in Cuba is an economic sector that generates over 4.7 million arrivals as of 2018, and is one of the main sources of revenue for the island.

On Twitter, it was mentioned that the reason why the alleged "trust fund babies stayed at a five-star hotel" is that they will be prosecuted when they return to the USA if they stay at one of the state-owned hotels. I don't know if this is true, but it doesn't sound unlikely.

At one of the international solidarity brigades in Cuba I've participated in, I talked with people from a U.S. brigade. They told me that before they returned, they had to make sure that they didn't have any receipts or other signs of things or services bought in Cuba since that would be proof that they had violated the U.S. blockade and thus committed a crime. Some of them had experienced being investigated by the FBI for visiting Cuba.

It takes courage for U.S. Americans to visit Cuba "trust fund babies" or not. They aren't in danger as long as they're there, but they may be when they return. More so now than ever before.

As for some of the participants in the flotilla staying at the Gran Hotel Bristol having electricity, it's no mystery, and it has everything to do with the oil blockade and nothing at all to do with "trust fund babies":

US fuel exports to Cuba’s private businesses rise even as Government faces oil blockade: Report (mint, Mar 25, 2026)
The fuel imports come with strict conditions. Commercial resale is not allowed, and the fuel must be used only by the importing companies.

Google AI tells me:

The Meliá Collection, a luxury brand of Meliá Hotels International, consists of unique, high-end properties primarily managed by the Meliá group, with some owned in partnership with investors. Notably, as of November 2025, many MiM Hotels, owned by Lionel Messi's MiM Hotels, are being integrated into this collection, which Meliá Hotels International will manage.

So Brainster, you can't be unfamiliar with the behavior people are encouraged to exhibit on the internet, i.e. don't spread any old propaganda you find there without checking and double-checking it first!
As it is, your willful ignorance and bias has now been revealed, but since you don't seem to care, I very much doubt that it will be a lesson that you will heed!


ETA: As for the alleged "trust fund babies," I very much doubt that HasanAbi is one.
HasanAbi breaks silence after Cuba outfit backlash as Cartier glasses debate sparks fresh controversy online (Times of India, Mar 24, 2026)
There's really no pleasing those MAGA ◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊! What was he supposed to do? Go without glasses? Buy a cheaper pair of glasses for the trip? (That is something I might do. I tend to 'dress down' when I go to Cuba, which doesn't take much in my case since I only dress up on very rare occasions.)
Imagine the criticism MAGAts would have had of Zelensky when he visited the White House if he had worn an Armani suit!
'How can he come here asking for money for his war-torn country when he spends money like a "trust fund baby."

ETA2:

The Coordinated Attacks on Hasan Piker are Embarrassingly Shameless (The Humanist Report on YouTube, Mar 26, 2026 - 23:44 min.)

12:49--> So, let me try to help out your viewers a little bit here:
How do you feel about the fact that when Americans travel to a foreign country, in this case Cuba, they are told specifically a list of hotels that they are allowed to stay in in another country?

The land of the free ... Yeah, right!

 

[dann]

If it were me, I'd be pinning the blame on Cuba's dictatorial regime, and calling out Code Pink as useful idiots for the regime.

You don't think of yourself as a useful idiot for the Trump regime and its oil blockade, do you?!

Pre-pandemic Cuba, 2019:

Cuba’s success in child health: what can one learn? (BMJ Pediatrics Open, Oct 20, 2019)
Cuba has excellent child health as illustrated by its low child mortality rates. Child mortality rates (under 5 years, infant and neonatal) in Cuba have all been lower than in the USA for many years.

Post-pandemic, oil blockaded Cuba today:

Cuba's mothers-to-be prepare to give birth in a country plunged into darkness (BBC, Mar 24, 2026)
Since the Trump administration imposed a near-total fuel blockade on Cuba three months ago, Mauren Echevarría Peña has been inside a ward in Havana's specialist maternity and neonatal hospital.
(...)
Not only has she had to endure weeks of bed rest and constant supervision, but she must now give birth in a nation experiencing rolling blackouts and days-long power cuts.

Cuban Patients Are Dying Because of U.S. Blockade, Doctors Say (NYT, Mar 26, 2026)

I just love those compassionate convervatives ...

 

[dann]

"Are we a threat, or are we at threat by example?"

COMBATE on X, Mar 25, 2026
Cuba's President Diaz-Canel: "Are we a threat, or are we a threat by example?"
"When Maduro was kidnapped, those who fought back were Cubans. 32 of them held back a Delta Force unit... despite being massively outnumbered."
"We are in difficult times, yes, but we are also in times that demand definition.
And here, on this island, the courage of a people is defined -- a people that would rather die on their feet than live on their knees."
With a video, 3:26 min.

Cuba is obviously a threat by example, much like the slave rebellion of Haiti, which is why colonialists back then had to make sure that it failed, and the Epstein class now won't allow the Cuban revolution to succeed.

'How long can any nation survive without oil?': Cuba faces repeated blackouts amid blockade (France24 on YouTube, Mar 22, 2026 - 9:15 min.)
Cuba was plunged into darkness for the second time in less than a week on Saturday after its national power grid failed again, strained by aging infrastructure and a US oil blockade. The blackout comes as Havana said it is open to “a serious and responsible dialogue” with the United States. Cuba, under a US blockade since 1962, has faced repeated fuel crises, said Helen Yaffe, professor of Latin American political economy at the University of Glasgow. She noted that renewable energy now helps meet daytime demand, with solar power covering nearly half of needs, but the country still lacks storage capacity and fuel for transport. "How long can any nation survive without oil?" she asked.

 

[dann]

Puerto Rican Solidarity Groups Defy U.S. Blockade on Cuba (Belly of the Beast on YouTube, Mar 26, 2026 - 3:23 min.)
In the face of Trump's oil blockade on Cuba, a group of solidarity activists from Puerto Rico arrived in Havana last Saturday to deliver medicine and medical equipment to the Salvador Allende Hospital, known as "La Covadonga," in the Cerro municipality.
Part of the Nuestra América Convoy, the Puerto Rican solidarity groups included the Committee for Solidarity with Cuba and the Juan Rius Rivera Brigade.
The convoy's arrival was "a ray of light in the middle of the darkness," said Dr. Mylene Vázquez, director of the hospital.
"Cuba and Puerto Rico are two wings of the same bird," said Sebastián Castro, from Committee for Solidarity with Cuba.

Why Activists from 11 Countries Sailed to Cuba (Belly of the Beast on YouTube, Mar 26, 2026 - 2:50 min.)
After five days at sea, the Nuestra América flotilla sailed into Havana harbor carrying 14 tons of humanitarian aid, including 73 solar panels, medicine, food, and hygiene supplies. The aid was delivered by 32 people from more than 11 countries.
They came from the United States, Brazil, Italy, Europe, and beyond. Some have been bringing aid to Cuba for years, stuffed into suitcases on solidarity brigades.
"My government is the one imposing these cruel sanctions and economic warfare on the Cuban people," said an activist from the United States. "And this has been happening for over 60 years."
“The world owes Cuba,” said Thiago Ávila, a Brazilian activist. “Cuban doctors were among the first to fight Ebola in Africa. They went to Italy during COVID-19. That's why Italians are on this boat.”

But let us return to Brainster's problem with hotel generators:

What does that hotel's generator run on and why are there blackouts?

This is the same guy who was also seen and heard in the video from The Humanist Report in post 14:

Newsmax Host Picked The Wrong Guy To Debate Cuba With... (The Majority Report on YouTube, Mar 27, 2026 - 14:28 min.)
9:17-->I'm a journalist and the United States is literally killing people. We are killing people. I toured two hospitals. One is a pediatric hospital. We implemented a new rule in February that says that if you're a private business, you can import oil. You can import fuel. So the hotel where we were required to stay is allowed by the United States government to have fuel.
Hospitals, because they have a publicly run health-care system, are not allowed to have fuel.
I heard a lot of people complaining that the hotel still had power, but the hospitals didn't. Not understanding apparently that it is a US rule that blocks the hospitals from getting fuel. I toured the pediatric hospital. You know, what the ... Do you know what the nurses and doctors there told me? They said when the power goes out, they immediately turn on their their phone lights and race to the babies on ventilators ...
- Let me ask you this.
... because there's a gap between ...
- Hold up. I understand. We're killing babies with
... There's a gap between when the power goes out and when the generator kicks in that can be up to like 5 or 6 7 minutes.
A baby can die in that time on a ventilator. So they have to take their phone, turn the light on, race and hand pump the ventilator because all ... because the United States has decided that Mexico can't sell oil and fuel Cuba.

Unfortunately, Sam Seder says this:

4:26--> I just want to say, uh, I was in Cuba, uh, I guess it's now close to 25 years ago now and, um, there was certainly significant poverty and the Cuban government, particularly at that time, was definitely oppressive uh to political opponents.

It's particularly unfortunate because he isn't specific about what that alleged police oppression was supposed to have been. I was in Cuba at that point in time, too, and if I knew what exactly he was talking about I might be able to explain to him why he's wrong. It's probably someting like the recent very popular lie about 'peaceful protesters' being arrested.
However, Sam Seder is otherwise much better informed than the Newsmax interviewer about some of the other dumb comparisons being made, for instance the endless repetition of: 'They live on $2 a day'.

 

[Brainster]

I feel certain that Cuba was a paradise on Earth until the evil Republicans came along, and that they have the kindest and most benevolent government possible and would never arrest "peaceful protestors." Running dog lackeys of the imperialist warmongers, maybe.

 

[thaiboxerken]

I feel certain that Cuba was a paradise on Earth until the evil Republicans came along, and that they have the kindest and most benevolent government possible and would never arrest "peaceful protestors." Running dog lackeys of the imperialist warmongers, maybe.

No, they were always in constant black-out due to lack of fuel and starving because of the lack of food. This is why blockading their trade routes isn't a big deal...

 

[Andy_Ross]

Reporter: There's a report that the US is going to let a Russian oil tanker go to Cuba?

Trump: “We don’t mind having somebody get a boatload, cuz they have to survive… If a country wants to send some oil into Cuba right now, I have no problem with it. Whether it’s Russia or… if other countries want to do it, doesn’t bother me… I prefer letting it in whether it’s Russia or anybody else because the people need heat and cooling and all of the other things that you need.”

Reporter: Do you worry that that helps Putin?

Trump: It doesn’t help him. He loses one boatload of oil. That’s all it is. It doesn’t bother me

https://twitter.com/x/status/2038429641212400076