The Cuba Thread

[TruckDriver9]

boarded under international law

I think You might have misspelled "under US law".
Cause international law is pretty clear on when ships may be boarded in international waters, and US sanctions enforcement isn't on the list. Not that it makes any difference, because, as mentioned earlier, US is not party to UNCLOS. And maybe that's what they're going for - send a "clean", properly registered, tanker with "humanitarian" oil, have it seized by the US Navy and make a scene out of it in the UN.

 

[TruckDriver9]

US Coast Guard blocked a fuel-laden tanker "Ocean Mariner" sailing from Colombia toward Cuba.

There is no official comment from the United States, but observers tracking Cuba believe a U.S. Coast Guard cutter intercepted a tanker bound for Cuba. It appears the presence of the USCG led the chemical/product tanker Ocean Mariner to alter course and sail away from Cuba.
(...)
The last shipment to Cuba was aboard the Ocean Mariner, a 13,000 dwt product tanker owned by Greek interests. The vessel registered in Liberia made a delivery to Cuba from Mexico on January 9. Reports suggest it was carrying 86,000 barrels of fuel.
The same vessel departed Colombia on February 5. Its AIS signal was saying, “for orders.” The ship, however, proceeded north. The tanker entered the Windward Passage between Cuba and Haiti, but its AIS signal shows a sudden U-turn. It went south of Haiti and along the coast toward the Dominican Republic.

 

[TruckDriver9]

Part of the reason the US has become more aggressive towards Venezuela and Cuba is that the Chinese were already starting to rebuild their infrastructure. In Cuba, new Chinese solar power projects already cover over a fifth of Cuban energy needs. At this rate, they will cover 80%+ of their energy needs in a couple of years, and start using Chinese EVs.

They don't have "a couple of years". There are blackouts all across the country, including the capital, happening now.

Blackouts surge in Cuba: Electric deficit rises from 1,500 to nearly 2,000 MW in one day

The Electric Union reported nearly 20 hours of power outages on Sunday, and the disruptions continued this morning.

en.cibercuba.com

 

[Cooper]

They don't have "a couple of years". There are blackouts all across the country, including the capital, happening now.

Blackouts surge in Cuba: Electric deficit rises from 1,500 to nearly 2,000 MW in one day

The Electric Union reported nearly 20 hours of power outages on Sunday, and the disruptions continued this morning.

en.cibercuba.com

They went through a far worse period after the fall of the USSR, when their foreign aid and subsidized oil imports were completely cut off in the early 90s. Their GDP collapsed by nearly 50%, they replaced their busses with improvised horse drawn carriages...

Special Period - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

If the US enforces a strict blockade on Cuba against the wishes of local countries like Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, and foreign powers like China and Russia, and perhaps EU countries like Spain, it's going to be a PR disaster for the US, will look like the USSR's 1961 attempt to blockade West Berlin. I predict Trump will back off, just like the USSR did.

 

[Pravoslavac]

They don't have "a couple of years". There are blackouts all across the country, including the capital, happening now.

Blackouts have been the way of life in Cuba for decades. They have blackouts more than not.