After Blocking Fuel, the US Turns to Cuba’s Food Supply
The Trump administration has already cut off Cuba’s access to oil. Now it’s attempting to starve the Cuban people, targeting the country’s capacity to grow, process, and import food — unless it buys from US corporations.
As the Trump administration seeks to topple the Cuban government and open its economy to private US ownership, it is using access to food as the ultimate leverage. (Pablo Porciuncula / AFP via Getty Images)
Cuba’s right to grow, process, and eat its own food is under siege.
In July, the US State Department announced a round of broad economic sanctions against Cuba targeting industries that have historically been spared, limiting the Cuban government’s ability to purchase agricultural commodities and food processing equipment from third countries by singling out Cuba’s state importer (GECOMEX) and port operator (GEMAR).
This is happening in the context of America’s monthslong oil blockade against Cuba, which has already immiserated the general population by impeding basic sanitation and food safety and has killed scores of patients in Cuban hospitals. A US congressional delegation that visited in early July described the situation on the ground as a “silent Gaza.”
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