Victor Coronado, from New Jersey, joined the Convoy through the CodePink organization’s program and could not have found a better opportunity than this, because “I have heard a lot about Cuba, I know about its struggles, its challenges, its solidarity, its wonderful people, but I have never visited; this will be my first time,” he told Prensa Latina.
Coronado noted that this trip has special significance for him due to the growing threats by the current US government. Therefore, going to Cuba now is a great act of love and commitment.
The Convoy’s call stated that the administration of President Donald Trump is stifling the island, cutting off fuel supplies, flights, and essential resources for survival.
The text recalled, “There is a blockade. There is no oil. There is no money. There is nothing,” Trump boasted aboard Air Force One on February 16.
More obstacles. The US Department of the Treasury, after updating a temporary license on Thursday that expires on April 11, authorizing the sale and delivery of Russian crude oil and petroleum products loaded onto ships before March 12, expressly excluded transactions involving other countries, including Cuba.
The license was issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Treasury Department as part of the Trump administration’s response to the rapid rise in oil prices following the escalation in the Middle East after the US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran on February 28 and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
The original license, issued on March 12, listed Iran as the sole exception but now includes, Cuba, among others.
The Trump administration has intensified its maximum pressure policy on the Caribbean nation in its long-standing objective of regime change, brutally tightening the economic, financial, and commercial blockade that has been in place for over six decades.
The president issued an executive order on January 29 declaring a national emergency regarding Cuba and thereby tightening the energy blockade.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, in a televised address on March 13, confirmed the start of a dialogue process.
Cuban officials have recently held talks with representatives of the United States Government, Diaz-Canel said, reiterating the principles of sovereignty and self-determination.
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