From D.C. Across the Americas: Cuba's Oil Siege with Francesca Emanuele

Why It Matters

The blockade threatens Cuban civilians and could spark a regional migration crisis, undermining U.S. credibility and hemispheric stability.

Key Takeaways

• U.S. oil blockade drives Cuba toward near-total paralysis.
• Blockade classified as economic coercion, comparable to act of war.
• Sanctions linked to migration spikes and hundreds of thousands of deaths.
• Experts urge humanitarian groups to denounce energy siege immediately.
• Lifting embargo essential to prevent regional migration and humanitarian crisis.

Summary

The video spotlights the United States’ oil blockade on Cuba, framing it as a deliberate energy siege designed to cripple the island’s economy and precipitate regime change. It argues that the embargo, now intensified under the Trump administration, constitutes economic coercion under international law and is comparable to an act of war.

Analysts cite research from the Center for Economic and Policy Research linking broad unilateral sanctions to heightened migration flows and hundreds of thousands of premature deaths each year. Secretary of State Marco Rubio testified that blockades amount to an act of war, underscoring the legal and moral gravity of the policy. The United States justifies the measures by labeling Cuba an “unusual and extraordinary threat,” a premise the speakers deem unfounded.

The speakers call on humanitarian and human‑rights organizations, as well as foreign‑policy scholars, to publicly condemn the siege, noting that silence betrays their professional mandates. They quote economists warning that continued oil deprivation could trigger a humanitarian catastrophe and a mass exodus across the Americas, echoing past research on sanctions‑induced crises.

The implication is clear: lifting the oil blockade and ending the decades‑old embargo are urgent to avert a regional migration crisis, protect civilian lives, and restore credibility to U.S. foreign‑policy commitments. Failure to act risks deepening human suffering and destabilizing the broader hemisphere.

Original Description

🚨 NEW EPISODE of CEPR's Expert Video Series

"From D.C. Across the Americas"

This week, Senior International Policy Associate Francesca Emanuele on the oil siege of #Cuba 

"The claim that Cuba constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to U.S. security is an absurd premise that does not withstand serious scrutiny."