Waterboarding for Dollars in Cuba
What the United States is doing to Cubans is equivalent to waterboarding them into submission, and all CBS could seem to talk about is Castro.
People transit on a street without power during a nationwide blackout in Havana on March 21, 2026.
(Photo by Yamil Lage / AFP via Getty Images
Jeffrey Mccrary
May 14, 2026
Common Dreams
The CBS Sunday Morning program, “Next: Cuba?” which aired on April 26, presented a discussion of the recent intensification of sanctions on and threats against Cuba. I am disappointed that this program, and several other shorter recent segments on CBS News, did not cover some essential points that must be stated about what is happening in Cuba now. My own experience in Cuba, including the recent delivery of humanitarian aid directly to Cubans, contradicts some perspectives presented by CBS.
Fidel Castro is dead. And, he has been dead for a while. He was a fascinating character who still inspires polemic discussions. Stories of Fidel are legendary on the scale of Paul Bunyan. But we think the choice of focus of these eight minutes on Fidel’s legacy is unjust to the Cuban people. The news of the moment is that Cuba is underwater. The CBS Sunday Morning program, instead of engaging in a discussion of a crisis on the island, entertained us with old, mostly obsolete stories about Castro
The CBS Sunday Morning program, “Next: Cuba?” which aired on April 26, presented a discussion of the recent intensification of sanctions on and threats against Cuba. I am disappointed that this program, and several other shorter recent segments on CBS News, did not cover some essential points that must be stated about what is happening in Cuba now. My own experience in Cuba, including the recent delivery of humanitarian aid directly to Cubans, contradicts some perspectives presented by CBS.
Fidel Castro is dead. And, he has been dead for a while. He was a fascinating character who still inspires polemic discussions. Stories of Fidel are legendary on the scale of Paul Bunyan. But we think the choice of focus of these eight minutes on Fidel’s legacy is unjust to the Cuban people. The news of the moment is that Cuba is underwater. The CBS Sunday Morning program, instead of engaging in a discussion of a crisis on the island, entertained us with old, mostly obsolete stories about Castro
Cubans are suffering currently. The US sanctions on Cuba are enormous, by any measure. We find it remarkable that Cuba has withstood for decades sanctions that would bring down any other country of its size and reach within weeks. The recent fossil fuel blockade on the island, however, has placed the people of the island in a choke hold. Cuba’s economy, like those around the world, is dependent on petroleum products for most of its electricity generation, vehicle use, and cooking. Food is rotting in the fields because of a lack of fuel to connect products to markets, and it is rotting in homes because the refrigerators are disconnected.
The recent military blockade prohibiting oil shipments disrupted Cuba’s economy on a level that frightened people, in a way that we would compare to drowning; If something is not done quickly, disaster will occur. The blockade was challenged successfully by a Russian oil tanker, but the sabers from the US State Department continue to rattle loudly.
Cuba deserves to make its path without undue pressure from the US.
A health crisis is happening in real time. The impacts of the sanctions on health are huge. Cubans are accustomed to excellent health services, but hospitals are less able to provide services than ever. Infants who were once saved from preventable risks are now dying, even in the best hospitals. Surgeries are postponed, simply because there are not sufficient provisions, made acute by the recent oil blockade. Let’s be clear: The oil blockade has provoked an epidemiological disaster.
The current suffering has a psychological dimension. A refrigerator that won’t keep food fresh, a stove that won’t cook, darkness all day and night, no transport to the workplace or market, overflowing trash piles every few blocks because the garbage trucks have no fuel, no running water, are not the same as a fun camping trip. Cubans are humiliated as the system they depend on spiraled downward from weakly working to a horror show. The people of Cuba are frightened, in our opinion, not only by the capacity of the US government to cause mayhem, but by their own vulnerability. All Cubans heard President Donald Trump say that he will “take Cuba.” Cubans know what happened in Iran, Gaza, and Venezuela, and these words are designed to make them think they are next. The psychological impact of this pressure compounds the physical hardship.
The intent of the current administration can’t be missing the mark—the effect of the fuel blockade, on top of so many, layered, sanctions and complications, is the same as waterboarding a person. By strengthening the intensity and increasing the duration, a waterboarded subject will eventually stop resisting and walk calmly to the next waterboarding session. That waterboarding may have occurred in Guantánamo, on the same island as the 10 million victims of these sanctions, is ironic. Even now, with a Russian tanker arriving to provide only a portion of the Cuban needs, the US government continues the horror of a tightened blockade to convert Cuba into a compliant state.
Cuban voices should be heard. The positions of Cuban Americans regarding the US sanctions on the island are not unanimous, as the news segment might lead one to believe. Americans should realize that Cuban Americans hold diverse positions on how representative the Cuban government is and how responsive it is to the changing situations regarding the needs of Cubans. This is not reflected in the mentioned segment.
More importantly, not a single Cuban citizen on the island spoke in the CBS Sunday Morning program. Even when including the other recent CBS News segments, very little expression of sentiment on the island is found. The viewers may be surprised, not only by the diversity of positions held among Cubans, but also by their sophistication in the analysis of the role of the Cuban government and the US government in their lives. Cubans don’t need to be represented by a few voices from inside Miami: They can speak for themselves, but the mentioned news item definitely cut them out of the conversation.
Cuba deserves sovereignty. The mentioned program made no mention of the overwhelming castigation of the US sanctions against Cuba that have occurred around the world. The United Nations votes against US sanctions have been occurring yearly for a few decades. Numerous countries are pushing back against the US line on Cuba. Russia dared the US to stop its fuel tankers from supplying the island. Small and large countries alike, ranging from Sri Lanka to Brazil, from Belgium to China, are speaking out against the US sanctions against Cuba. Many are putting their money where their mouth is, with donations and technical assistance, including many organizations and individuals from the US. Their message is simple: Cuba deserves self-determination, not intervention from abroad. They do not deserve the web of financial, travel, commercial, and diplomatic punishments imposed on Cuba and on any business or country that dares to conduct some kinds of business with Cuba.
Cuba is not a threat to any other country or people. It is amply evident that Cuba is not a danger to any group or people or nation outside its country. Even the most stridently anti-communist Cuban Americans travel to Cuba freely. The State Sponsor of Terrorism designation of Cuba, one of the pillars justifying US sanctions, is neither accurate nor helpful. Discussion of this was absent from the mentioned news article, leaving the viewer with a deficient view of why Cubans and their government face our collective wrath.
There are problems inside the country. There are serious problems in both Cuba and the US, both of which need sober, thoughtful discussions. Let’s all be clear: Discontent rages in the US, too. However, no yardstick exists that makes Cuba look like an outlier in either internal human rights or international threats. What does exist is the cry of “but they are communists,” coming from South Florida, and this has no place as a criterion for US foreign policy any longer. And recently, the Cuban government has called for frank discussions with the US government, hopefully, where all issues could be discussed in a framework of sovereignty and the intentions of being good neighbors.
Cubans are capable of handling their own problems, with our cooperation instead of imposition. We all would like to see Cubans happier. We have varying levels of knowledge about Cuba, ranging from first-time visitors to Cuba to citizens and former residents of the island. Our political opinions vary along a wide range, but we are unanimous in one aspect that was left out of the CBS Sunday Morning program: Cuba needs and deserves an end to the US-imposed sanctions.
Cuba deserves to make its path without undue pressure from the US. The CBS Sunday Morning article left out the voices of Cubans, which would have expressed their anxious desire for what now seems impossible: that Cubans be able to conduct their business without undue pressure from the US. Practically no Cuban alive is old enough to know what normal diplomacy from the US is. Let’s give them the most revolutionary present of all—a decent, respectful foreign policy, just like all the rest of the countries in the world.
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Jeffrey Mccrary
Jeffrey McCrary recently traveled to Cuba as part of the CODEPINK-Nuestra América Convoy. This people-to-people solidarity delegation delivered humanitarian aid directly to communities across the island while documenting the human impact of US sanctions and fuel shortages.
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Blackouts and protests as Cuba says fuel has ‘run out’
ByAFP
May 14, 2026
A man cooks with firewood during a blackout in Havana on May 13, 2026 - Copyright AFP Brendan Smialowski
Cuba was hit by worsening power outages on Thursday as the island’s communist government said oil reserves had run out and rare protests broke out around the capital Havana.
Eastern Cuba was plunged Thursday into the latest of regular electricity shutdowns affecting the whole country, while people protested against power outages in neighborhoods around Havana, in the west of the island.
Oil reserves sent by Russia have now “run out,” Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy told state television, describing the situation as “very tense.”
“The heat continues to rise, and the impact of the blockade is indeed causing us significant harm… because we are still not receiving fuel.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio renewed an offer of $100 million in aid on the condition that the assistance be distributed by the Catholic Church, bypassing the government.
“We are ready to hear the details of the proposal and how it would be implemented,” said Cuba’s top diplomat, Bruno Rodriguez, on social media.
A resident of San Miguel del Padron, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Havana, told AFP that people had protested the power cuts by banging pots and pans on Wednesday evening.
Several other similar small protests were held in neighborhoods across the capital to express widespread frustration, according to accounts gathered by AFP.
“Turn on the lights!” shouted residents in Playa, a district in the western part of the capital.
President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Wednesday blamed a US-imposed “genocidal energy blockade” on Cuba for its grim energy shortages.
Data compiled by AFP showed prolonged blackouts and record generation shortfalls in recent days — 65 percent of Cuban territory endured simultaneous blackouts on Tuesday.
“This dramatic worsening has a single cause: the genocidal energy blockade to which the United States subjects our country, threatening irrational tariffs against any nation that supplies us with fuel,” Diaz-Canel said.
The island’s energy crisis worsened in January when the United States imposed an oil blockade on the island of 9.6 million people.
Since then, only one Russian tanker has reached Cuba, which is in the throes of economic stagnation and supply shortages.
Outages of more than 19 hours a day have hit Havana, while in several provinces, blackouts last for entire days.
Cuba’s electricity generation is sustained by a network of eight aging thermoelectric plants — some in operation for over 40 years — that suffer frequent breakdowns or must be shut down for maintenance cycles.
Cubans have endured seven nationwide blackouts since 2024, and fuel prices have soared.
President Donald Trump — who since the start of the year has deposed Venezuela’s leftist leader but seen less success in a war on Iran — has mused that Cuba could be next and that the United States could take over the island.
ByAFP
May 14, 2026
A man cooks with firewood during a blackout in Havana on May 13, 2026 - Copyright AFP Brendan Smialowski
Cuba was hit by worsening power outages on Thursday as the island’s communist government said oil reserves had run out and rare protests broke out around the capital Havana.
Eastern Cuba was plunged Thursday into the latest of regular electricity shutdowns affecting the whole country, while people protested against power outages in neighborhoods around Havana, in the west of the island.
Oil reserves sent by Russia have now “run out,” Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy told state television, describing the situation as “very tense.”
“The heat continues to rise, and the impact of the blockade is indeed causing us significant harm… because we are still not receiving fuel.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio renewed an offer of $100 million in aid on the condition that the assistance be distributed by the Catholic Church, bypassing the government.
“We are ready to hear the details of the proposal and how it would be implemented,” said Cuba’s top diplomat, Bruno Rodriguez, on social media.
A resident of San Miguel del Padron, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Havana, told AFP that people had protested the power cuts by banging pots and pans on Wednesday evening.
Several other similar small protests were held in neighborhoods across the capital to express widespread frustration, according to accounts gathered by AFP.
“Turn on the lights!” shouted residents in Playa, a district in the western part of the capital.
President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Wednesday blamed a US-imposed “genocidal energy blockade” on Cuba for its grim energy shortages.
Data compiled by AFP showed prolonged blackouts and record generation shortfalls in recent days — 65 percent of Cuban territory endured simultaneous blackouts on Tuesday.
“This dramatic worsening has a single cause: the genocidal energy blockade to which the United States subjects our country, threatening irrational tariffs against any nation that supplies us with fuel,” Diaz-Canel said.
The island’s energy crisis worsened in January when the United States imposed an oil blockade on the island of 9.6 million people.
Since then, only one Russian tanker has reached Cuba, which is in the throes of economic stagnation and supply shortages.
Outages of more than 19 hours a day have hit Havana, while in several provinces, blackouts last for entire days.
Cuba’s electricity generation is sustained by a network of eight aging thermoelectric plants — some in operation for over 40 years — that suffer frequent breakdowns or must be shut down for maintenance cycles.
Cubans have endured seven nationwide blackouts since 2024, and fuel prices have soared.
President Donald Trump — who since the start of the year has deposed Venezuela’s leftist leader but seen less success in a war on Iran — has mused that Cuba could be next and that the United States could take over the island.
US renews offer of $100 mn to Cuba if it cooperates
ByAFP
May 13, 2026
Cuba's economic woes intensified in January after the United States deposed the leader of Venezuela whose government had been providing around half of the island's fuel needs - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP POOL
Shaun TANDON
The United States on Wednesday renewed an offer of $100 million in aid for Cuba, pressuring its longtime nemesis to cooperate as it weathers an economic crisis that includes prolonged blackouts.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking last week in Rome, said that Cuba had rejected an offer of $100 million in assistance, an assertion denied by the communist government in Havana.
The State Department on Wednesday publicly renewed the proposal, which comes after the United States piled new sanctions against key parts of Cuba’s state-controlled economy.
“The regime refuses to allow the United States to provide this assistance to the Cuban people, who are in desperate need of assistance due to the failures of Cuba’s corrupt regime,” the State Department said.
“The decision rests with the Cuban regime to accept our offer of assistance or deny critical (life)-saving aid and ultimately be accountable to the Cuban people for standing in the way of critical assistance,” it said.
It said that the support would include direct humanitarian assistance from the United States and funding for “fast and free” internet access — which presumably would benefit dissidents in the one-party state that restricts media.
The United States, the statement said, was working to promote “meaningful reforms” in Cuba.
– Energy woes –
Cuba’s power supplies have been dropping to new lows, according to data compiled by AFP, with prolonged blackouts and record generation shortfalls in recent days.
Sixty-five percent of Cuban territory endured simultaneous blackouts on Tuesday, according to the data.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Wednesday acknowledged the “particularly tense” situation but pinned blame squarely on the United States.
“This dramatic worsening has a single cause: the genocidal energy blockade to which the United States subjects our country, threatening irrational tariffs against any nation that supplies us with fuel,” he wrote on X.
Cuba’s economic woes intensified in January after the United States deposed Venezuela’s leftist leader Nicolas Maduro, whose government had been providing around half of the island’s fuel needs.
Since then, only one Russian tanker has reached Cuba,
President Donald Trump’s administration already provided $6 million in humanitarian aid to Cuba but channeled it through the charity of the Catholic Church, which has long played a go-between role for the two countries.
After Rubio’s initial comments in Rome, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said the offer was a “lie” that “no one here knows anything about.”
“Will it be a donation, a deception or a dirty deal to curtail our independence? Wouldn’t it be easier to lift the fuel blockade?” Rodriguez wrote on X.
Rubio, a Cuban-American who vociferously opposed the communist system founded by Fidel Castro, has been widely reported to be in contact with segments of the Cuban elite in hopes of stirring change.
Trump has publicly mused about taking over the island, which has been under a US embargo almost continuously since Castro’s 1959 revolution.
Last week the United States imposed sanctions on a Cuban military conglomerate that controls nearly 40 percent of the economy, after Trump signed an order to punish any foreign banks that transact with US-blacklisted entities.
ByAFP
May 13, 2026
Cuba's economic woes intensified in January after the United States deposed the leader of Venezuela whose government had been providing around half of the island's fuel needs - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP POOL
Shaun TANDON
The United States on Wednesday renewed an offer of $100 million in aid for Cuba, pressuring its longtime nemesis to cooperate as it weathers an economic crisis that includes prolonged blackouts.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking last week in Rome, said that Cuba had rejected an offer of $100 million in assistance, an assertion denied by the communist government in Havana.
The State Department on Wednesday publicly renewed the proposal, which comes after the United States piled new sanctions against key parts of Cuba’s state-controlled economy.
“The regime refuses to allow the United States to provide this assistance to the Cuban people, who are in desperate need of assistance due to the failures of Cuba’s corrupt regime,” the State Department said.
“The decision rests with the Cuban regime to accept our offer of assistance or deny critical (life)-saving aid and ultimately be accountable to the Cuban people for standing in the way of critical assistance,” it said.
It said that the support would include direct humanitarian assistance from the United States and funding for “fast and free” internet access — which presumably would benefit dissidents in the one-party state that restricts media.
The United States, the statement said, was working to promote “meaningful reforms” in Cuba.
– Energy woes –
Cuba’s power supplies have been dropping to new lows, according to data compiled by AFP, with prolonged blackouts and record generation shortfalls in recent days.
Sixty-five percent of Cuban territory endured simultaneous blackouts on Tuesday, according to the data.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Wednesday acknowledged the “particularly tense” situation but pinned blame squarely on the United States.
“This dramatic worsening has a single cause: the genocidal energy blockade to which the United States subjects our country, threatening irrational tariffs against any nation that supplies us with fuel,” he wrote on X.
Cuba’s economic woes intensified in January after the United States deposed Venezuela’s leftist leader Nicolas Maduro, whose government had been providing around half of the island’s fuel needs.
Since then, only one Russian tanker has reached Cuba,
President Donald Trump’s administration already provided $6 million in humanitarian aid to Cuba but channeled it through the charity of the Catholic Church, which has long played a go-between role for the two countries.
After Rubio’s initial comments in Rome, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said the offer was a “lie” that “no one here knows anything about.”
“Will it be a donation, a deception or a dirty deal to curtail our independence? Wouldn’t it be easier to lift the fuel blockade?” Rodriguez wrote on X.
Rubio, a Cuban-American who vociferously opposed the communist system founded by Fidel Castro, has been widely reported to be in contact with segments of the Cuban elite in hopes of stirring change.
Trump has publicly mused about taking over the island, which has been under a US embargo almost continuously since Castro’s 1959 revolution.
Last week the United States imposed sanctions on a Cuban military conglomerate that controls nearly 40 percent of the economy, after Trump signed an order to punish any foreign banks that transact with US-blacklisted entities.
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