Cuba says it has run out of fuel, blames U.S. embargo • Hacker News Board

Re: Cuba says it has run out of fuel, blames U.S. embargo

#61

Post by Manuel_D » Thu, May 14, 2026, 5:23 PM UTC

ceejayoz wrote: post #40

Manuel_D wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US is not enforcing a blockade, it's an embargo. The US and other countries are refusing to trade with Cuba, but plenty of other countries can and do trade with Cuba. Cuba is not entitled to trade with the US. A blockade is when a country stops traffic, from entering a country's ports. It's an act of war, and a totally different thing from an embargo.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/world/americas/venezuela-... > The oil tanker seized by the United States off the coast of Venezuela this week was part of the Venezuelan government’s effort to support Cuba, according to documents and people inside the Venezuelan oil industry. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/20/world/americas/cuba-oil-b... > Three days later, the U.S. Coast Guard intercepted a tanker full of Colomb…

This ship was flying a false flag [1], which makes it legal for governments to seize regardless of the situation with Cuba.

1. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-we-know-oil-tanker-the-ski...

Re: Cuba says it has run out of fuel, blames U.S. embargo

#62

Post by georgemcbay » Thu, May 14, 2026, 5:23 PM UTC

Manuel_D wrote: post #22

WaxProlix wrote: post #6

What we're doing to the Cuban people with this blockade is criminal. I don't expect to see justice in my lifetime. What a miserable state of affairs.

The US is not enforcing a blockade, it's an embargo. The US and other countries are refusing to trade with Cuba, but plenty of other countries can and do trade with Cuba. Cuba is not entitled to trade with the US. A blockade is when a country stops traffic, from entering a country's ports. It's an act of war, and a totally different thing from an embargo.

> The US is not enforcing a blockade, it's an embargo.

...just like the war in Iran isn't a war.

These important reminders brought to you by the Ministry of Truth.

Re: Cuba says it has run out of fuel, blames U.S. embargo

#63

Post by daedrdev » Thu, May 14, 2026, 5:24 PM UTC

pasquinelli wrote: post #21

ReptileMan wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

doesn't surviving a 70 year embargo make you question how bad the communists really are?

Cuba let 20% of the population leave in 2020-24 so that they would have fewer dissenters in the country who might overthrow the government. Thats a higher rate of population per year than the peak of the great Irish famine

Re: Cuba says it has run out of fuel, blames U.S. embargo

#64

Post by Someone » Thu, May 14, 2026, 5:24 PM UTC

Manuel_D wrote: post #22

WaxProlix wrote: post #6

What we're doing to the Cuban people with this blockade is criminal. I don't expect to see justice in my lifetime. What a miserable state of affairs.

The US is not enforcing a blockade, it's an embargo. The US and other countries are refusing to trade with Cuba, but plenty of other countries can and do trade with Cuba. Cuba is not entitled to trade with the US. A blockade is when a country stops traffic, from entering a country's ports. It's an act of war, and a totally different thing from an embargo.

FTA: “U.S. President Donald Trump resumed ramping up a six-decade-old American ecomonic embargo on Cuba in January after cutting off its main supply of oil from Venezuela and threatening sanctions on Mexico, its second largest supply, and any other country that provided oil to the island.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Cuban_crisis: “ The United States began blocking oil tankers heading to Cuba in February 2026, targeting companies such as the Mexican state-owned Pemex and threatening the responsible countries with tariffs should they resist. […] On 29 January 2026, Executive Order 14380 was signed and entered into force on 30 January, declaring a national emergency in US and authorizing the imposition of additional tariffs on imports into the United States from countries that directly or indirectly supply oil to Cuba.”

That’s a bit more than an embargo.

Re: Cuba says it has run out of fuel, blames U.S. embargo

#65

Post by simpaticoder » Thu, May 14, 2026, 5:24 PM UTC

daedrdev wrote: post #38

The US has had an embargo on Cuba for a long time that exempted Food and Medicine, while other countries freely traded with Cuba. However, under the Trump admin it has turned into a de-facto blockade of all fuel, which really isn't the embargo, it's a new blockade by the US against Cuba. So I don't get why we blame it on the embargo when the current problems are clearly caused by the blockade. Cuba's previous economi…

Yeah it's crazy when the CCP expresses frustration that you're not doing more capitalism...

As an aside, I'm surprised that computers wouldn't make centralized economies more doable. It might not be good but at least the people wouldn't be starving and dying because hospitals are out of electricity.

Re: Cuba says it has run out of fuel, blames U.S. embargo

#66

Post by b3ing » Thu, May 14, 2026, 5:25 PM UTC

mlmonkey wrote: post #4

I don't really understand the point of the embargo. I am an American. Picking on a tiny country like Cuba serves no purpose. The elites in Cuba are not going to suffer; the normal people will. Instead of acting like a bully, I wish our government would be more magnanimous and just drop the embargo.

They embarrassed us years ago by forcing out US capitalists exploiting them and sided with Russia during the Cold War. We won’t forgive them for 50,000 years now despite we work fine with Japan and Germany

Re: Cuba says it has run out of fuel, blames U.S. embargo

#67

Post by Manuel_D » Thu, May 14, 2026, 5:26 PM UTC

elmomle wrote: post #59

Manuel_D wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US is not enforcing a blockade, it's an embargo. The US and other countries are refusing to trade with Cuba, but plenty of other countries can and do trade with Cuba. Cuba is not entitled to trade with the US. A blockade is when a country stops traffic, from entering a country's ports. It's an act of war, and a totally different thing from an embargo.

The US has been seizing fuel shipments en route to Cuba. What do you call that, if not a blockade?

They have been boarding ships that fly false flags. That is, they claim to be flying under the flag of some country. But when the US contacts that country to confirm that the ship is really registered there, the government of that country replies that the ship is not, in fact, registered. This is legal to do regardless of the embargo against Cuba.

There are plenty of ships that move good and resources to Cuba that don't get boarded.

Re: Cuba says it has run out of fuel, blames U.S. embargo

#68

Post by vrganj » Thu, May 14, 2026, 5:26 PM UTC

Manuel_D wrote: post #61

ceejayoz wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/world/americas/venezuela-... > The oil tanker seized by the United States off the coast of Venezuela this week was part of the Venezuelan government’s effort to support Cuba, according to documents and people inside the Venezuelan oil industry. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/20/world/americas/cuba-oil-b... > Three days later, the U.S. Coast Guard intercepted a tanker full of Colomb…

This ship was flying a false flag [1], which makes it legal for governments to seize regardless of the situation with Cuba. 1. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-we-know-oil-tanker-the-ski...

[flagged]

Re: Cuba says it has run out of fuel, blames U.S. embargo

#69

Post by mothballed » Thu, May 14, 2026, 5:26 PM UTC

daedrdev wrote: post #63

pasquinelli wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

doesn't surviving a 70 year embargo make you question how bad the communists really are?

Cuba let 20% of the population leave in 2020-24 so that they would have fewer dissenters in the country who might overthrow the government. Thats a higher rate of population per year than the peak of the great Irish famine

Where does one go with one of the weakest passports in the world, no assets, no family connections, and probably only sporadically any skills capable of getting a work visa? I need to get on speed dial whatever immigration lawyer those people had.

Re: Cuba says it has run out of fuel, blames U.S. embargo

#70

Post by Tangurena2 » Thu, May 14, 2026, 5:26 PM UTC

mlmonkey wrote: post #4

I don't really understand the point of the embargo. I am an American. Picking on a tiny country like Cuba serves no purpose. The elites in Cuba are not going to suffer; the normal people will. Instead of acting like a bully, I wish our government would be more magnanimous and just drop the embargo.

As a nation, we're still pissed off that those uppity dark skinned people (/s) overthrew our businesses and replaced the corrupt politicians installed by our government/businesses. Generally, when other nations do that, we invade them. Repeating that pattern in Central America led to coining the phrase "banana republic" to describe it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_republic

Also, we're still pissed off at Iran for deposing (in 1979) the dictator that we installed in 1953.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_Revolution

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d%27%C3%A9ta...

Whenever America acts "funny" (or irrationally, if you prefer) and does something politically/militarily that makes no sense to the average person, the answer is almost always "white supremacy". In the past, that could be waved away by mumbling "we're fighting communism", but after the collapse of the Soviet Union & Warsaw Pact, we needed a new excuse. Sometimes "fighting terrorism" is used instead, but the T-word never gets applied to white people.