nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/50636966

President Trump has tried to strangle Cuba by blocking its oil imports. But six months later, the island is finding ways to endure.

“We have not reached the point of having a humanitarian crisis precisely because of the strength of our society,” Mr. Fernández de Cossio, Cuba’s deputy foreign minister, said in Havana’s Fidel Castro museum, where the lights were on but the air-conditioning had failed. “The intimate expectation in political circles in the United States was that Cuba could not survive beyond April. And here we are.”

July 27, 2026

  • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.caEnglish
    32·
    4 days ago

    They are swapping their gas-guzzling 1950s American cars for electric motorcycles and rickshaws from China; importing hefty lithium batteries to keep televisions and fans running through blackouts; jury-rigging generators to run on more accessible natural gas; and installing solar panels on rooftops and even vehicles.

    As a result, Cuba has been powering its electric grid solely with domestic oil and gas and a growing network of solar parks sponsored by China. Together, they are enough to support roughly half of Cuban demand, according to Jorge Piñón, who studies Cuban energy at the University of Texas.

    It’s China. Glad to see them materially helping. If the US does not invade, Cuba may be in for a new beginning.

    • JPAKx4@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      9·
      4 days ago

      China is the only ones who can actually do anything, as the US’s Cuba super sanctions make it impossible for anyone in the western world to do anything. I’m glad they’re helping Cuba build an independence from the world to protect them from the collective punishment of imperial interests.

      The people of Cuba are so unbelievably strong, and I hope they can get their quality of life back one day.