For many Europeans of my generation, Cuba was more than just a country—it was a progressive cause. Back in our selectively idealistic student days (mine were in the mid-1970s), we saw it as a brave little nation that had overthrown a corrupt regime tied to the US mafia. Led by the charismatic Fidel Castro and the iconic guerrilla leader Che Guevara, a popular revolution then stood up to a crippling US economic embargo to defend its independence. Hasta la victoria siempre! (Ever onwards to victory!)
Now, Cubans are suffering in desperate poverty with little or no electricity. They’re enduring a US blockade on fuel supplies ordered by Donald Trump as part of a policy of maximum pressure, aimed either at toppling the island’s communist rulers or forcing them to open up to US capitalism. The US decision to indict Raúl Castro—Fidel’s 94-year-old brother and successor, who remains a key power broker even in retirement—for murder over the 1996 shooting down of two US light aircraft shows how determined Washington is to eliminate the old guard. Factories and transportation have ground to a halt due to a lack of power. Hospitals are struggling to treat patients with barely enough fuel to keep emergency generators running.
Yet, few outside the hard-left fringes of European politics are protesting this clearly illegal strangulation of the Cuban economy and its people. Even fewer are countering US pressure on Havana by sending fuel or power generators. The world won’t lift a finger to protect Cuba from Trump’s deadly squeeze or to prevent regime change. Even outrage is in short supply.
This is partly because Cuba’s traditional friends and allies—Russia, Venezuela, Mexico, and Brazil—are either disabled, distracted, or have bigger issues to deal with Washington. It’s also because Cubans’ suffering is largely due to their country’s ineffective rulers, who have done little to help their own people.
The fact that Cubans enjoy neither freedom nor prosperity is less about the US embargo and more about decades of communist mismanagement, which crushed economic initiative and freedom of expression in the name of a lowest-common-denominator egalitarianism. “Cuba today is anything but free,” said Herman Portocarero, a former Belgian and EU ambassador to Havana who negotiated the 2016 EU-Cuba political dialogue and cooperation agreement. “This is a tropical island with lots of fertile soil that for many years has imported 80% of its food.”
The EU and Brazil offered financial incentives and technical assistance to help Cuba shift from sugar cane to food production. “We tried, and the Brazilians tried to do something about that, but we failed. Each time we ran into a wall of ideology, of dogma,” Portocarero said. Up to a million mostly educated Cubans have emigrated in the last two years.
Cuba’s long line of foreign “sugar daddies” ran out in January when Trump’s lightning military assault toppled Venezuela’s leftist government, abducting President Nicolás Maduro and his wife to face trial in the US. That ended the subsidized Venezuelan oil shipments that were keeping Cuba afloat. With few exports, the country scrapes by on remittances from Cuban exiles, mostly in the US and Canada. Even its iconic Havana Club rum is sold in imported bottles because high energy costs make it uneconomical to produce glass in Cuba.
Russia, which in the Soviet era was Havana’s main protector and economic partner, is bogged down in an unwinnable war in Ukraine. It watched helplessly as its key Middle Eastern ally, Syria under the Assad regime, was toppled in a civil war, and its other regional partner, Iran, was bombed by the US and Israel. Moscow did send one oil shipment to Cuba in March, which the US allowed through on “humanitarian” grounds. No other country—not even leftist-governed Mexico and Brazil—has dared to send fuel for fear of facing US secondary sanctions.
China, which has friendly ties with Havana, has not challenged the US blockade. Xi JXi Jinping has more important matters to discuss with Trump. There’s no sign that Cuba even came up during their summit this month. China doesn’t see Cuba as a big enough market to care about. As for Europe, it’s more divided than ever on Cuba, and it’s focused on Russia’s war in Ukraine and the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, which has cut energy supplies and sent fuel prices soaring.
Within the EU, Spain and France have traditionally been Cuba’s main supporters and the loudest critics of the US embargo, which has been in place since 1962. For years, you could fly directly from Madrid to Havana, but many flights are now being suspended as tourism has collapsed. And for years, the EU unanimously backed a yearly UN General Assembly resolution calling for an end to the embargo. But in 2025, Hungary voted against it, and Czechia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Romania abstained.
For many on the left, like veteran politicians Jeremy Corbyn and Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the Cuba issue is about anti-imperialism and sovereignty. But for the right, it’s about anti-communism and individual freedom, especially in Central European countries that lived under Soviet rule for decades.
Even Spain, where a left-wing government has prided itself on standing up to the US by condemning the war on Iran and refusing to let its bases be used for that operation, has been oddly quiet about Trump’s pressure on its former colony. Sure, the leaders of Spain, Mexico, and Brazil issued a joint statement last month condemning “the dire situation” facing the Cuban people. They called for respect for sovereignty and international law, but they didn’t explicitly mention the US or the oil blockade, and they only promised more humanitarian aid, not energy supplies.
Whether Washington forces a “deal” on Cuba’s current leaders or tightens its grip to try to overthrow them, don’t expect Europe to do anything to stop the next chapter of the “Monroe Doctrine.” Europeans, too, have bigger fish to fry with Trump. They may have history with Cuba, but the US has geography and geopolitics on its side.
Paul Taylor is a senior visiting fellow at the European Policy Centre.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here is a list of FAQs based on the statement The US wants to change Cubas government But even Havanas European allies have abandoned it
BeginnerLevel Questions
Q Does the US really want to change Cubas government
A Yes For decades US policy has aimed to pressure Cubas government to become more democratic and freemarket This includes economic sanctions and diplomatic isolation
Q What does Havanas European allies mean
A It refers to European countries that have historically been friendly or neutral toward Cuba or have criticized US sanctions The phrase says those countries are now distancing themselves from Cuba
Q Why would European allies abandon Cuba
A Mainly because of Cubas poor human rights record lack of political freedom and economic mismanagement Recent protests and repression have made it harder for Europe to publicly support or defend the Cuban government
Q Is the US trying to invade Cuba
A No The US is not planning a military invasion Instead it uses economic pressure and diplomatic isolation to try to force political change
Q What does this mean for regular Cubans
A It often means more economic hardship US sanctions limit trade and access to goods while losing European support reduces foreign investment and aid Many Cubans suffer from shortages and lack of opportunity
IntermediateLevel Questions
Q What specific actions has the US taken to change Cubas government
A The main tools are the embargo travel restrictions and pressure on other countries to limit business with Cuba The US also funds prodemocracy groups and broadcasts independent news into Cuba
Q Why would Europe abandon Cuba now when it didnt before
A For years Europe disagreed with the US embargo but still traded with Cuba However after massive protests in 2021 and a crackdown on dissidents European governments began to see Cubas government as unwilling to reform They have since reduced aid and condemned human rights abuses
Q Is the US policy working
