Cuba | “The EU is becoming Trump’s accomplice”

The situation in Cuba is dramatic, says Walter Baier, who recently looked around the country. Photo: MAGO/Anadolu Agency Since the US kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January, the Trump administration has further tightened the blockade against Cuba. Not a drop is coming from Venezuela, the main oil supplier; There are power outages in Cuba. You are an economist and recently visited Cuba: How is the crisis making itself felt?

The situation is dramatic. There have been eight nationwide blackouts in the last year and a half. Electricity is only available hourly and irregularly. The energy emergency is disorganizing people's everyday lives. The health system is particularly suffering. 100,000 urgently needed operations cannot take place in hospitals; 34,000 prenatal examinations cannot be carried out. Only 30 percent of the required medications are available. And 100,000 children no longer receive their state-subsidized milk. Child mortality has doubled. It is clear that the Trump administration wants to push Cuba into a humanitarian catastrophe in order to force system change.

Above all, this means that the US energy embargo is virtually complete. Only a single oil tanker from Russia has been able to dock since January, but the country would need seven tankers per month.

As of June 2026, the Trump administration has further tightened the “punitive measures” against Cuba: companies that cooperate with the country will be sanctioned in the USA. This also affects the already weak tourism sector in Cuba. Is that noticeable?

Hotel chains such as Spain's Melia have pulled out of Cuba due to the threat of being sanctioned. Half of the hotels are closed. Most airlines such as Iberia, Air France and Air Canada no longer fly to the island because the planes cannot be refueled. Aside from the loss of income, 27,000 people also lost their jobs.

Shouldn’t the EU react? After all, the EU Commission repeatedly emphasizes how important the “competitiveness” of European companies is to it.

The extraterritorial application of U.S. law to punish companies that cooperate with Cuba violates international law. The EU, which is supposed to protect European companies, remains silent and thus becomes Trump's accomplice. It was only in June that a reactionary majority in the European Parliament, against the votes of the Left, Social Democrats and Greens, passed a resolution condemning not the USA but Cuba.

You were at the conference celebrating Fidel Castro's 100th birthday in August. In addition to honoring the revolutionary, were there forward-looking discussions there?

Of course, for example to develop solar capacities. Over the last year these have quadrupled. This is good environmentally and economically, as solar energy is six times cheaper than burning oil. However: Chinese help in this process is crucial. China donated 5,000 photovoltaic systems in December and August. In July, the first 50 MW battery plant went into operation in Havana with Chinese help, and plants in Holguin and Granma are currently being completed. The plan is to increase the share of renewable energy to 24 percent by 2030, to 31 percent by 2035 and to 100 percent by 2050.

And what about agriculture? This is also a problem child in Cuba.

There have been drastic declines in virtually all sectors over the past two years. The transition to the agroecological model began in the 1990s. This transformation is even more urgent today, but also more difficult. Vietnamese experts and the Food and Agriculture Organization are helping. But the crisis is also self-made: 80 percent of agricultural land is state-owned, but they only provide 20 percent of the output. The agrarian reform passed in June aims to create economic incentives to increase agricultural production by relaxing ownership and management rules.

The Party of the European Left (EL) is in solidarity with Cuba and has been active on the island for a long time. What options for support and collaboration are there?

Almost all of our 40 member parties are active in Cuba solidarity. They work with friendship societies and solidarity groups, send medical and hygiene items, collect money and take part in solidarity brigades. I still remember the time when Cuba solidarity was chic and Che posters hung in all the shared apartments. But solidarity with Cuba is not just a matter of the heart. Trump wants to bring all of Latin America under his thumb. And not just Latin America, as the example of Greenland shows. He is unlikely to be able to pull off a villainous act like the one in Venezuela in Cuba. One of the moving moments of my stay was the participation of Raúl Castro, against whom the US has issued an arrest warrant, in the celebration of Fidel's 100th birthday.

They concluded a cooperation agreement between Cuba and the EL in Havana. What does this include?

Cuba has friends all over the world. Showing this is also the purpose of the agreement on dialogue and cooperation that we signed with the Communist Party of Cuba. The Cuban media widely reported on this and also on my meeting with the First Secretary of the Communist Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel. At its congress in April, the EL unanimously passed a resolution in solidarity with Cuba. The agreement is a voluntary commitment by our party to follow up this decision with practical action.

Walter Baier (72 years old) has been President of the Party of the European Left (EL) since December 2022. The economist, who holds a doctorate, was one of the co-founders of EL in 2004 and was the coordinator of the left-wing think tank »transform! Europe«. The former KPÖ chairman has been dealing with the topic of Cuba since his student days. Socialist Cuba is currently experiencing one of the worst economic crises in its history. In the midst of this situation, which was particularly aggravated by the US sanctions policy, the international conference on the 100th birthday of Fidel Castro “Legacy and Future” took place in August. Baier followed the deliberations in Havana, spoke to politicians and scientists and looked around the country. In Berlin, a protest vigil will take place in front of the US Embassy from September 12th to 19th under the motto: "No War On Cuba!" The action is directed against the US blockade against Cuba and is being carried out by numerous organizations. It is supported by, among others, “nd”. sat

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