The Donroe Doctrine

[Ron in Regina]

Cuba's national electric grid collapses, leaving millions without power — Reuters

Cuba's national electric grid collapsed on Monday, the country's grid operator said, leaving around 10 million people without power amid a U.S.-imposed oil blockade ‌that has crippled the island's already obsolete generation system.

apple.news

So….Friendly takeover and regime change like Venezuela/Iran, or friendly like Greenland/Canada 51st state? You’d almost think Cuba has oil except that it’s having the life choked out of it by America Trump withholding oil from everywhere including Venezuela and Mexico from reaching Cuba.

In 2004, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated that the North Cuba Basin had a 95% probability of having at least 1.1 billion barrels, and a 5% chance of having 9.4 billion barrels; the most likely volume was 4.6 billion barrels of undiscovered oil.

In October 2008, the Cuban government announced that its likely oil reserves were more than double that which was previously believed, and its total reserves were probably 20 billion barrels, mostly in the offshore. If the estimates are accurate, then Cuba would have one of the top 20 reserves in the world.

Keeping an eye on the Cuban part of the GOM - GeoExpro

The island of Cuba has a rich history of oil and gas exploration, dating back as far as the 1860s when commercial discoveries of heavy oil were found. The first significant discovery in Cuba was light oil in the Motembo oil field in 1881. The 1950s saw a boom following the discovery of the...

geoexpro.com

USGS Publications Warehouse

Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean conventional resources of 4,098 million barrels of oil and 13,268 billion cubic feet of gas in the North Cuba area....

pubs.usgs.gov

Cupet (Cuba Petroleos) pegs Cuba’s potential oil reserves—on land and in its Gulf waters—at over 20 billion barrels. If this is accurate, it would make Cuban reserves twice that of Mexico.. Even if it turns out to only be half of that though, this island would still have reserves as large as Mexico’s.

http://fpa.org/energy-revolution-in-cuba-continues/

Humanitarian pressures grow as Cuba continues to struggle with energy shortages

Cuba’s humanitarian situation is worsening as fuel shortages deepen nearly a month after Washington took measures to block oil supplies from entering the Caribbean nation, a senior UN official warned on Wednesday.

news.un.org

 

[petros]

Cuba's national electric grid collapses, leaving millions without power — Reuters

Cuba's national electric grid collapsed on Monday, the country's grid operator said, leaving around 10 million people without power amid a U.S.-imposed oil blockade ‌that has crippled the island's already obsolete generation system.

apple.news

What does Putin think of this?

 

[pgs]

Cuba's national electric grid collapses, leaving millions without power — Reuters

Cuba's national electric grid collapsed on Monday, the country's grid operator said, leaving around 10 million people without power amid a U.S.-imposed oil blockade ‌that has crippled the island's already obsolete generation system.

apple.news

View attachment 33675
View attachment 33676
So….Friendly takeover and regime change like Venezuela/Iran, or friendly like Greenland/Canada 51st state? You’d almost think Cuba has oil except that it’s having the life choked out of it by America Trump withholding oil from everywhere including Venezuela and Mexico from reaching Cuba.
View attachment 33677
In 2004, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated that the North Cuba Basin had a 95% probability of having at least 1.1 billion barrels, and a 5% chance of having 9.4 billion barrels; the most likely volume was 4.6 billion barrels of undiscovered oil.

In October 2008, the Cuban government announced that its likely oil reserves were more than double that which was previously believed, and its total reserves were probably 20 billion barrels, mostly in the offshore. If the estimates are accurate, then Cuba would have one of the top 20 reserves in the world.

Keeping an eye on the Cuban part of the GOM - GeoExpro

The island of Cuba has a rich history of oil and gas exploration, dating back as far as the 1860s when commercial discoveries of heavy oil were found. The first significant discovery in Cuba was light oil in the Motembo oil field in 1881. The 1950s saw a boom following the discovery of the...

geoexpro.com

USGS Publications Warehouse

Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean conventional resources of 4,098 million barrels of oil and 13,268 billion cubic feet of gas in the North Cuba area....

pubs.usgs.gov

Cupet (Cuba Petroleos) pegs Cuba’s potential oil reserves—on land and in its Gulf waters—at over 20 billion barrels. If this is accurate, it would make Cuban reserves twice that of Mexico.. Even if it turns out to only be half of that though, this island would still have reserves as large as Mexico’s.

http://fpa.org/energy-revolution-in-cuba-continues/

Humanitarian pressures grow as Cuba continues to struggle with energy shortages

Cuba’s humanitarian situation is worsening as fuel shortages deepen nearly a month after Washington took measures to block oil supplies from entering the Caribbean nation, a senior UN official warned on Wednesday.

news.un.org

They should push Batista’s granddaughter as the logical returning leader . Does he have one ?

 

[Taxslave2]

What does Putin think of this?

He probably doesn't care now that Russian oil is welcome in more advanced countries again.

 

[petros]

He probably doesn't care now that Russian oil is welcome in more advanced countries again.

Advanced like India? Doesn't that fuck Zelensky?

 

[Retired_Can_Soldier]

It's kind of like the Trump coming down and saying, "I'll tell you what you need around here. You need security, because being on an island is a dangerous place. Just ask Bill Clinton or Steve Bannon? Anyway, this is what I was thinking, you folks give us our tribute, and we'll make sure the power doesn't go out."

 

[Ron in Regina]

It's kind of like the Trump coming down and saying, "I'll tell you what you need around here. You need security, because being on an island is a dangerous place. Just ask Bill Clinton or Steve Bannon? Anyway, this is what I was thinking, you folks give us our tribute, and we'll make sure the power doesn't go out."

Maybe some golf courses, some hotels, mineral rights, couple plantations, let us install whom we approve as your governing leadership, perhaps Marco Rubio…etc…

Didn’t Cuba have their “Boston Tea Party” moment over something like this in about 1958?

 

[Retired_Can_Soldier]

Maybe some golf courses, some hotels, mineral rights, couple plantations, let us install whom we approve as your governing leadership, perhaps Marco Rubio…etc…

Didn’t Cuba have their “Boston Tea Party” moment over something like this in about 1958?

It's probably going to happen.

 

[Ron in Regina]

Well, I suppose you could say if you're poor in L.A. or in Bagdad, you're still poor. BUT the point I was trying (& apparently didn't do well) is that there's a difference between WHY these people are poor; Tyranny is one, being a drug addict is another - neither is the same as the other.

That is a mouthful.

Russia said it had unwavering solidarity with Cuba on Tuesday, after U.S. President Donald Trump said he expected to have the honour of "taking Cuba" and that "I can do anything I want" with the Communist-run ‌island republic.

Russia says it supports Cuba after Trump says he will 'take' the Communist republic — Reuters

Russia said it had unwavering solidarity with Cuba on Tuesday, after U.S. President Donald Trump said he expected to have the honour of "taking Cuba" and that "I can do anything I want" with the Communist-run ‌island republic.

apple.news

U.S. President Donald Trump escalated his rhetoric against Cuba on Monday, saying ‌he expected to have the "honor" of "taking Cuba in some form" and that "I can do anything I want" with the neighboring country.

Trump says he can do 'anything I want' with Cuba — Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump escalated his rhetoric against Cuba on Monday, saying ‌he expected to have the "honor" of "taking Cuba in some form" and that "I can do anything I want" with the neighboring country.

apple.news

(YouTube & Trump says 'taking' Cuba would be 'big honor,' that president 'can do anything I want with it')

 

[Ron in Regina]

In addition to cutting off oil sales (from countries that are not the USA?) to Cuba, US President Donald Trump has escalated his rhetoric against the Communist-run island, saying on Monday he could do anything he wanted with the country? Well, he’s already dictating policy with respect to oil exports to Cuba upon other western hemisphere sovereign nations…so I believe he believes what he’s saying.

Cuba Restores Power After 29-Hour Blackout Amid U.S. Oil Blockade — HuffPost

In addition to cutting off oil sales to Cuba, U.S. President Donald Trump has escalated his rhetoric against the Communist-run island, saying on Monday he could do anything he wanted with the country.

apple.news

A US State Department official blamed the Cuban government for the grid collapse, calling blackouts a “symptom of the failing regime’s incompetence”.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel fired back at Washington, criticising its “almost daily public threats against Cuba”.

Cuba restores power and vows ‘unyielding resistance’ to U.S. oil blockade — CNBC

The communist-run island nation is thought to be facing its biggest test since the collapse of the Soviet Union amid a U.S. oil blockade.

apple.news

“They intend to and announce plans to take over the country, its resources, its properties, and even the very economy they seek to suffocate in order to force us to surrender,” Diaz-Canel wrote on social media on Tuesday night, shortly after power returned nationwide.

Cuba restores power after 29-hour blackout amid US oil blockade — Al Jazeera

The national power grid comes back on after Cuba's 10 million people were plunged into darkness overnight.

apple.news

Cuba has received only two small vessels carrying oil imports this year, according to LSEG ship tracking data seen by Reuters on Monday. On Tuesday, a Hong Kong-flagged tanker that could be carrying fuel to Cuba resumed navigation after suspending its course weeks ago in the Atlantic Ocean, the data showed.

Cuba restores electricity network, vows 'unbreakable resistance' to US pressure — FRANCE 24 English

Cuba widely restored its electricity network on Tuesday after more than 24 hours of blackouts across the Caribbean island, which is under increasing pressure from the US to change its communist government. Cuba's leader Miguel Diaz-Canel on Tuesday said the US would face "unbreakable resistance"...

apple.news

So, does Trump consider both Canada and Mexico as “leftist” governments? Don’t see either one in his “Shield of the Americas (plural).”

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

In addition to cutting off oil sales (from countries that are not the USA?) to Cuba, US President Donald Trump has escalated his rhetoric against the Communist-run island, saying on Monday he could do anything he wanted with the country?

He's not wrong. The U.S. treated Cuba as its playground and sugarcane source for about a century. Cuba finally shook off the U.S. by snuggling up to the Soviet Union. Bad idea, but it's hard to blame them.

 

[Ron in Regina]

He's not wrong. The U.S. treated Cuba as its playground and sugarcane source for about a century. Cuba finally shook off the U.S. by snuggling up to the Soviet Union. Bad idea, but it's hard to blame them.

In 1958, who could rival the US in order to get out from under its thumb?

“The US publicly threatens #Cuba, almost daily, with overthrowing the constitutional order by force,” Díaz-Canel wrote on the social platform X Tuesday.

“And it uses an outrageous pretext: the harsh limitations of the weakened economy that they have attacked and sought to isolate for more than six decades,” he continued.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday that he will have the “honor” of taking over Cuba.

“Whether I free it, take it, I think I can do anything I want with it,” Trump said. “You want to know the truth, they’re a very weakened nation now.” Trump added that his administration would “do Iran before Cuba,” referring to ongoing strikes on the Middle Eastern country.

Cuba president vows 'impregnable resistance' after Trump talk of taking island — The Hill

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel vowed “impregnable resistance” in response to renewed threats this week from President Trump to take over the island.

apple.news

Phew, for a while there I thought they were going to threaten Cuba or something.

 

[spaminator]

In 1958, who could rival the US in order to get out from under its thumb?

“The US publicly threatens #Cuba, almost daily, with overthrowing the constitutional order by force,” Díaz-Canel wrote on the social platform X Tuesday.

“And it uses an outrageous pretext: the harsh limitations of the weakened economy that they have attacked and sought to isolate for more than six decades,” he continued.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday that he will have the “honor” of taking over Cuba.

“Whether I free it, take it, I think I can do anything I want with it,” Trump said. “You want to know the truth, they’re a very weakened nation now.” Trump added that his administration would “do Iran before Cuba,” referring to ongoing strikes on the Middle Eastern country.

Cuba president vows 'impregnable resistance' after Trump talk of taking island — The Hill

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel vowed “impregnable resistance” in response to renewed threats this week from President Trump to take over the island.

apple.news

Phew, for a while there I thought they were going to threaten Cuba or something.

wonder if he will turn it into a riviera?

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

wonder if he will turn it into a riviera?

Worked in Gaza.

 

[Ron in Regina]

Oh yeah, diplomatic relationship between the United States of America and Zambia can be characterized as warm and cooperative, so…a memo drafted by the U.S. State Department outlines a plan to hold lifesaving HIV medication hostage if the south African country of Zambia refuses to meet its geopolitical terms.

United States–Zambia relations - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Though the exact demands haven’t been made public, the plan involves withholding some $115 million in support for vital HIV treatment programs, unless the Zambian government gives US companies more access to its vast mineral wealth.

The language of the Zambia memo, prepared for Marco Rubio and viewed by the NYT, makes the Trump administration’s intentions clear: “we will only secure our priorities by demonstrating willingness to publicly take support away from Zambia on a massive scale.”

Has anyone explained that Zambia isn’t in the Western Hemisphere to Trump yet? Maybe show him this map? America in green and Zambia in orange just for irony?

One of the rationales given in the memo, the NYT notes, is that bringing US industry in will box Chinese interests out, further aiding Trump’s hawkish geopolitical ambitions, which have increasingly centered around copper.

The Trump administration, in practice, is threatening to cut off that lifeline in order to secure access to one of the world’s richest copper deposits, which it can only access with consent from the Zambian government. Yet according to the latest UN data, only 31 percent of Zambia’s mineral exports are bound for China — Switzerland is a much larger benefactor, accounting for 62 percent of the African nations’ unrefined copper trade.

I guess Switzerland hasn’t allowed America to use its airspace for reconnaissance flights related to the Iran war, and it hasn’t sent its navy over to open up the Strait of Hormuz, but maybe that’s a different story.

Back to Zambia, the logic looks even slimier once you zoom out. Zambia has copper, sure, but it’s the world’s seventh-largest producer of the stuff. Other countries like Chile have a lot more to go around, and they send a much bigger slice to China. Chile, however, only receives a couple million dollars in US aid each year, a much weaker bargaining chip if you’re Trump or Rubio.

In this light, the people of Zambia don’t offer a strategic advantage so much as strategic convenience. With 1.3 million people dependent on the largess of the United States, the African nation would seem to have little choice but to submit to the shakedown: a squeeze meant to inflict maximum cruelty with minimum effort.

Trump Threatens to Do Something Horrible in Africa Unless He Gets a Deal on Precious Minerals — Futurism

"We will only secure our priorities by demonstrating willingness to publicly take support away from Zambia on a massive scale." Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech Donald Trump has been busy in Africa. Look no further than airstrikes in Nigeria, travel bans on 29...

apple.news

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Ahh, lovely Zambia!

Birthplace of the zamboni.

 

[Ron in Regina]

Ahh, lovely Zambia!

Birthplace of the zamboni.

I can mentally hear the commentary of the wildlife documentary about the beautiful birth of the Zamboni out on the Serengeti, narrated by somebody with a monotone British accent in hushed tones.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

I can mentally hear the commentary of the wildlife documentary about the beautiful birth of the Zamboni out on the Serengeti, narrated by somebody with a monotone British accent in hushed tones.

Makes for great government-funded TV content!