The Trump administration has escalated its pressure against Cuba’s government, curbing oil supplies and threatening tariffs on countries that continue to ship fuel to the island as part of an effort to force regime change. The slate of punitive trade policies adopted to punish the toppling of the US-backed government by Castro has fluctuated diplomatic relations over the decades.
Bracewell’s Jeff Vaden told the Washington Examiner the administration’s approach, in part, is “a way to isolate Venezuela, to try to affect change in either policy or regime change in Venezuela.”
“Venezuela has, obviously, the largest reserve of oil in the world. It sends all to Cuba in exchange for things like medical doctors, training and intelligence support. So if you can cut off that flow to Cuba, not only does it hurt Cuba on the commodity side, but it hurts Venezuela as far as getting the aid assistance from Cuba that comes back,” he said.
