The enduring conflict between the US and Cuba stems from a long history of intervention and a fundamental disagreement over sovereignty.
📍 Cuba, United States
The current tensions between US President Donald Trump and the Cuban government, marked by sanctions and military surveillance, are not a sudden development but rather the latest chapter in a century-long struggle for influence. For decades, the United States has viewed Cuba with a strategic eye, seeing the island as a crucial foothold in the Americas and a potential threat to its own interests. This obsession began with the 13 American colonies’ independence from Britain, with the belief that Cuba would inevitably become part of the Union, fueled by a perceived “civilising mission” and a desire to prevent a situation similar to Haiti's violent revolution. The historical narrative is replete with attempts – from Theodore Roosevelt's inflammatory rhetoric to outright military occupation – to control Cuba’s destiny.
The roots of this antagonism are deeply intertwined with the legacy of slavery and racial prejudice within the United States. The US Southern former slaveholders, wary of another Haiti, actively resisted Cuban independence, fearing it would create a nation where formerly enslaved people could achieve the same freedoms they had fought to deny. The US military occupation following the Spanish-American War in 1898, justified by the need to prevent a further revolution, further cemented this pattern of interference. Leonard Wood, the US governor of Cuba at the time, reflected this sentiment, arguing that the Cuban population wasn’t ready for self-governance – a justification rooted in racial assumptions and a desire to maintain US dominance.
Today, Cuba’s unwavering commitment to its sovereignty – demonstrated by President Díaz-Canel's refusal to negotiate on matters of governance – is a direct challenge to this long-standing US approach. The ongoing impasse reflects a fundamental difference in perspectives: the US prioritizing control and influence, while Cuba fiercely defends its right to determine its own future. As journalist Kristen Welker pointed out, “Nothing gets under [Cubans’] skin more than the notion that the United States can tell the Cuban government who should lead it or what it should be doing.”
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