Cuban Resilience

On Feb. 25, 2026, a speedboat with ten people registered to Florida neared the El Pino Channel when five Cuban border guard troops approached them and asked for identification. The people on board the speedboat opened fire, resulting in a firefight that resulted in the deaths of four and the wounding of six people. It also resulted in the wounding of a Cuban border guard commander. This event builds on the already palpable tensions between Cuba and the U.S., as President Donald Trump ramps up restrictions on oil imports of the 10-million-person island nation, creating an urgent situation. Yet, despite increasing U.S. sanctions, Cuba remains determined to reclaim its geopolitical independence through renewable energy production and capacity.

The U.S. has historically intervened economically in Cuban affairs through embargoes and global sanction threats. The Cuban Government reports that the United States’ sanctions from 1958 to 2018 have cost the island nation upwards of $933.6 billion USD. This action has severely crippled the Cuban economy, with modern estimates showing that GDP fell by 10.1% from 2018 to 2023. After Fidel Castro had overthrown the U.S.-backed President Fulgencio Batista in 1959, he nationalized $1.8 billion dollars’ worth of U.S. assets. Dwight D. Eisenhower then ordered that a partial embargo be placed on Cuba in 1960, barring all trade between the United States and Cuba except for medicine and food. The US-backed Bay of Pigs invasion failed in 1961, leading to increased tensions between the Western and Soviet Blocs. It wasn’t until Feb. 3, 1962, that John F. Kennedy signed Proclamation 3447, which effectively embargoed all trade between the United States and Cuba. Following years of stalled relations and little movement on the embargo, the 1990s and 2000s saw presidential administrations alternate between more and less restrictive policies. For example, in 1995, Bill Clinton signed an executive order to lift travel restrictions and allowed the establishment of a Western Union office in Havana. In 2002, George W. Bush furthered the embargo and additionally restricted relatives from visiting family members in Cuba. Today, the Trump administration continues to increase pressure on Cuba, restoring Cuba’s place on the “State Sponsors of Terrorism List,” while also announcing that the U.S. Coast Guard's conditions of entry would be imposed on boats arriving from Cuba. Generally, U.S. policy on Cuba has become more economically restrictive. Even with this long-standing embargo in place, additional limits on trade, and identification as a State Sponsor of Terrorism, Cuba has remained committed to supporting their citizens. For 33 years, the United Nations has called for lifting the United States’ embargo on the Cuban people, but the U.S. has ignored attempts to reconsider the boundaries of international law. Cuba is not the only example of United States intervention, as seen in the forced removal of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and the United States’ missile strikes on Caribbean vessels, which continue to undermine the political, social, and economic sovereignty of developing nations in the western hemisphere.

Since the United States’ rise as a unipolar superpower, it has exercised significant international influence. Recently, rapid changes in U.S. public policy have impacted affairs in the western hemisphere. The power vacuum left after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 caused Cuba to look more locally for trade and economic flexibility. The early 2000s saw Caracas fulfill that role, with Cuba receiving oil and energy security while Venezuela received doctors and security personnel. This relationship helped Cuba avoid Western reliance, even allowing Cuba to make excess sales of oil to China, generating export income. The recent forced removal of Maduro, however, destabilized the Cuba-Venezuela alliance, leading to a massive reduction in Venezuelan oil sales, especially to Cuba. Trump’s oil quarantine has placed massive pressure on the Cuban people, exacerbating the embargo's impact as well. More specifically, the United States further restricted trade to the island by declaring that it would embargo any country that sought to sell oil to Cuba. With public transportation shutdowns, 12-14-hour daily blackouts, and rising prices on fuel, the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has warned that Cuba is on the verge of humanitarian collapse. But, in the midst of increased resource scarcity, the Cuban people have continued to fulfill daily responsibilities and take action to preserve power for essential services and projects.

In reaction to U.S. intervention, Cuba has continued to remain focused on the welfare of its people. Currently, estimates find that Cuba has enough oil to last only 15 to 20 days, even with emergency measures. The Cuban government has mitigated the extreme humanitarian crisis by prioritizing fuel for public health, food production, and defense. Furthermore, Cuba maintains a near-universal literacy rate for both youth and adults, revealing a lasting dedication to education. The average life span is 81 years for women, and 77 years for men, just short of the UK’s 83 years for women, and 79 years for men. This shows that even with an extreme lack of resources, resource management and prioritization have allowed Cuba to provide necessary healthcare to its citizens. Cuba has also focused on accelerating the installation of renewable energy, deploying many solar panels. The country has already reached over 1000 megawatts of photovoltaic capacity, with an additional 98 megawatt increase in capacity expected by the end of February, and 58 more megawatts increase in March. This will be followed by successive increases in photovoltaic capacity each month. Ultimately, Cuba plans to install over 5000 modules in vital places, “including 161 maternity homes, 156 nursing homes, 305 senior centers, 556 polyclinics, 336 bank branches, and 349 administrative offices.” While U.S. intervention rises, Cuba continues to focus on solar panel production and deployment, quickly shifting from oil reliance to renewable reliance on a nationwide level to endure the international strain.

Even with the threat of global sanctions, many countries and organizations have sent aid to Cuba. Mexico, for instance, has sent over 814 tons worth of aid—including powdered milk, meat products, cookies, beans, rice, tuna in water, sardines, vegetable oil, and hygiene products. China has also approved an $80 million financial assistance package, along with 60,000 tons of rice, to reduce the crisis. In addition to Mexico’s and China’s contributions, a humanitarian aid flotilla named the “Nuestra América Flotilla,” organized by many non-governmental activists and advocates from around the world, plans to support Cuba’s development.

Despite the economic sanctions the U.S. has placed on Cuba, the Cuban people have maintained resilience and strength. They have created new ways to manage resources, focusing on prioritizing the delivery of energy to essential infrastructure. With increases in renewable energy production and capacity, Cuba remains determined to reclaim energy independence in spite of rising geopolitical instability and continued U.S. sanctions.