The world has seen many changes since the start of Russia’s war with Ukraine in 2022. The war has shifted global alliances, slowed down GDP projections, and raised tensions between the East and the West.
Latin America has not been spared from these impacts, with spillovers ranging from widespread protests due to rising fuel costs to a rapprochement between the long-isolated Venezuela and the West — a move highly related to the country’s large oil reserves in a context of conflict with one of the world’s largest producers.
These changes extend to Cuba, with some particularities in line with the country’s history as a regional exception since its socialist turn in the 1960s.
This was made evident in a four-day trip to Havana by Josep Borrell, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, in late May. Mr. Borrell appealed to a spirit of “mutual respect” between Cuba and the EU, pleasing local authorities by emphasizing a topic dear to the island’s left-wing government: the role of U.S. sanctions in Cuba’s economic crisis.
Mr. Borell said the “restrictive measures” of the 60-year-long embargo did “not make things easy” for Cuba — an indisputably true fact, although sometimes overplayed by the government as the cause of most local troubles, or even used as an excuse for political repression.
Washington’s foreign policy was not at the heart of the discussion, but Mr. Borell wanted to highlight the bonds between the two sides. He also emphasized the...
Search
