CUBA CAUGHT BETWEEN TWO FIRES: RUSSIA AND US CONFRONTATION
Amid pressure from the Biden administration, a flood of Russian oil poured into the country, providing relief to debilitating blackouts.
The Cuban government is still facing problems caused by the powerful Hurricane Ian tore through western Cuba in late September, causing an island-wide blackout. Тhe government’s inability to deal with the growing energy crisis is fueling discontent among Cubans.
It also once again thrust the Caribbean Island into the middle of an escalating tug-of-war between its seaside neighbor, the United States, and ally, Russia. Are we on the brink of the new Caribbean crisis?
And while Cuba unsuccessfully urges the Biden administration to ease US sanctions, amid a crisis of recovery from the devastating hurricane, Russian oil has flooded the island, easing debilitating power outages.
So far, Russia has already supplied about $352 million worth of oil to Cuba since the start of the war in Ukraine. That is the largest influx of Russian oil in the century and, according to independent estimates, is enough to cover about 40% of the island’s shortfall in reserves. The supplies of Russian oil to Cuba have also potentially alleviated the weight of international sanctions against Russia.
The long history of economic turmoil
In the current geopolitical situation, the island nation has been left with its hands tied.
It leaves them “between a rock and a hard place,” said William LeoGrande, a professor at American University who has studied Cuba for many years. “Cuba can’t afford to alienate either side in what is shaping up to be a new Cold War.”
But today, 60 years after the Cuban missile crisis, the country is facing a new problem – energy crisis. The country has been dependent on foreign supplies for decades and is now unable to meet the energy needs of a growing population.
Until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, as part of a friendly partnership, the communists sold oil to Cuba at a price well below the market. А few years later аccording to the same scheme, a deal was concluded with a new socialist partner – Venezuela. However, ever since Venezuela fallen into its own crisis, it has been unable to provide Cuba with enough petroleum. Questions also spark rumors that the island country is no longer able to pay for supplies.
Despite speculation that Venezuela may be fronting part of the costs, Cuba’s Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Carlos Cossío told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday that “Cuba, of course, pays.”
“Cuba has to buy petroleum for the well-being of the economy, and it’s willing to buy it from whoever sells it to us,” Cossío said.
And while top-level negotiations are underway, key power plants are slowly starting to fall into disrepair after years of delayed maintenance. The Cuban government has struggled to strengthen its own energy sector and exploit the island’s potential for solar and wind energy development.
However, the lack of investment and sanctions pressure from the US government is a reality that Caribbean nation has been unsuccessfully trying to fight for many years.
“The blockade deprives Cuba of indispensable financial resources,” Cuban Foreign Affairs Minister Bruno Rodríguez said at a recent news conference.
“The national electric energy system is passing through an extremely grave situation that’s the result of these limitations.”
The history of the American embargo dates back to the Cold War. And while Cuba had a brief reprieve under the Obama administration, restrictions are back in full force under the Trump administration. A new round of the economic crisis was aggravated by the global COVID-19 pandemic.
While Joe Biden’s administration has eased certain sanctions, many of the measures have stayed in place. Rodríguez says that they have cost Cuba $3 billion in seven months.
US officials criticize Cuba’s economic policies as mismanaged.
A double hit to its power grid
Already existing problems with energy resources have been exacerbated this autumn, when the Cuban economy faces a new ordeals.
First, a fire broke out in August at a crucial oil storage facility east of Havana, and then in late September, Hurricane Ian swept across western Cuba, cutting off power to the entire island.
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Main sources: NBC News, The Washington Post https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/cuba-middle-escalating-tug-war-russia-us-rcna54389
