Cuba Resists US Pressure as Trump Threatens New Sanctions

The Cuban government says it will not accept an agreement reached under coercion from the United States. Authorities on the island insist they can withstand the current pressure campaign despite growing economic difficulties.

During his second term, President Donald Trump intensified economic sanctions against Cuba to unprecedented levels. His administration cut oil supplies needed to power the island's collapsing electrical grid and threatened military action.

“The answer from Havana seems to be that hell will freeze over before that happens.”

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla asked how Cuba has managed to resist everything it has faced. He spoke at a press conference last week before the annual UN General Assembly session on the US economic embargo against Cuba.

Communist leaders appear willing to wait until Trump's term ends rather than make the broad concessions Washington demands. The US government says it will maintain pressure until Cuba opens its political system and ends alliances with Russia, China, and other adversaries.

Ordinary Cubans have little time to lose as inequalities grow between those with resources and those without. The country teeters on the brink of economic collapse after sixty years of American sanctions.

Havana's response appears to be that hell will freeze over before the demanded changes occur. Few signs indicate the government is considering the wide-ranging concessions required by Washington.