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AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.
Cuba plunged into an island-wide blackout, leaving millions of people without power after the national electricity grid completely collapsed Monday. This was at least the third and the largest blackout to hit Cuba in just about four months, as the U.S. energy blockade has cut off the island from accessing desperately needed fuel. No oil shipments have reached Cuba in more than three months, according to the Cuban government, compounding a humanitarian crisis caused by decades of U.S. sanctions.
Meanwhile, The New York Times reported Monday, Trump’s negotiators told their Cuban counterparts during recent talks that Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel must be removed from power. President Trump spoke to reporters at the White House Monday.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I do believe I’ll be the honor of — having the honor of taking Cuba. That’d be a good honor. It’s a big honor.
REPORTER: Taking Cuba?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Taking Cuba in some form, yeah. Taking Cuba. I mean, whether I free it, take it — think I can do anything I want with it, you want to know the truth.
AMY GOODMAN: “Whether I free it, take it” or “can do anything I want with it,” President Trump said.
For more, we’re joined by two guests. In Havana, we go to Daniel Montero, Cuban journalist and producer with Belly of the Beast, an independent media outlet covering the impact of U.S. sanctions on Cuba. And in San Diego, California, we go to Sara Kozameh, assistant professor in history at University of California, San Diego, who’s just returned from Cuba, her recent piece for The Guardian headlined “In the other US target of regime change, Cuba, I saw real hardship — and resilience.”
But, Daniel, let’s turn to you right now in Cuba. Talk about this largest blackout that we have seen, what it means for the people, what it means for Cuba and what’s happening.
DANIEL MONTERO: Yeah. Thank you for having me.
I mean, what’s really heartbreaking about this, this latest blackouts that we have, is that at this point, you know, for our daily lives, it doesn’t feel any — you know, that much different from normal days. What I’m trying to say is, because no fuel is coming in, I mean, blackouts have extended significantly over the past few months. You know, right now in Havana, which usually fares a lot better than the rest of the country, we’re talking about at least 12 hours a day. You go to the provinces, like, you know, outside of the city, where my family lives, they’re getting by with three, four or five hours a day. So, of course, a national blackout has tremendous impact throughout, but what I’m trying to convey is that because blackouts have extended so much due to the oil blockade, it doesn’t feel that different.
Right now the power grid is coming back on. It usually takes them about a whole day to bring it entirely throughout the country, and authorities have said that precisely because there’s less fuel, it takes them longer to bring back the grid. But, of course, the consequences of this, I mean, not just the national blackout, but the oil blockade as a whole, it’s tremendous. I think for the first time in my life, the sanctions, you know, feel completely unavoidable. I think you cannot find someone in Cuba that’s not being affected by the current state of affairs.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Daniel, what about the fact that even Latin American countries that have had long relations with Cuba and have progressive governments, like Brazil and Mexico, and are also oil exporters, that they have not stepped forward more strongly to assist Cuba with oil?
DANIEL MONTERO: I mean, I think that just speaks to the world we’re living in, right? I mean, Trump has exerted all of the pressure he can on other countries. And sadly, it has worked so far, and we’re just living through the results. Of course, it saddens me. As a Cuban, I suffer it every day. You know, this is not some abstract or theoretical notion for me. You know, we suffer it every day, and it’s terrible. I mean, we’re talking about — I have no other way to describe it, as sanctions are literally killing people right now, you know, because the conditions are so bad. And this has everything, absolutely everything, to do with what the U.S. is doing to my country.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And how do you react to this announcement of the Cuban government that it will now be allowing Cuban Americans to own businesses and invest in the island?
DANIEL MONTERO: I think that is actually a news that was rather positively received by people in Cuba. I mean, you have to understand that over the past 15 years the country has been progressively opening up to investment, coming from the outside and also from the inside of the country. So that is actually something that didn’t necessarily surprise anyone listening to the news, and that most people have no problem with.
AMY GOODMAN: And what President Trump said from the Oval Office, Daniel, how it’s being received in Cuba, that the U.S., that President Trump would take it or free it or whatever, but that that’s going to happen very soon, and the demand that the Cuban President Díaz-Canel must leave?
DANIEL MONTERO: It is absolutely outrageous. I mean, we’re talking about — the idea of a negotiation or a talk between two countries cannot start with the premise of one of the parties stepping out. So, if the goal was to actually come to an agreement and to actually improve the lives of the Cuban people, then that would not be the premise. But, of course, this does not surprise us. We understand what this oil embargo means and what it has always meant, what sanctions have always meant. This is regime change through starvation. That is what they’re trying to do.
And right now with the oil blockade, conditions are worse than they ever have been. So, you know, as a Cuban, as someone living here, with all of my family is here, it is absolutely outrageous to listen to, you know, Donald Trump and the administration in the United States saying that they’re trying to help Cuba, they’re trying to liberate Cuba, because they don’t articulate the price that they’re asking people to pay. Sure, they’re saying that they want freedom, they want democracy, they want — they talk about all of these good things that they’re going to bring to the Cuban people. But they should really articulate the means to get there. The means to get there is the Cuban people suffering, is the Cuban people dying.
AMY GOODMAN: Have you experienced in Cuba — we have the reports of — a magnitude 5.8 earthquake this morning, on top of the national blackout?
DANIEL MONTERO: Yes, in the east of the country, it is not very uncommon to have this, these quakes. Fortunately, they don’t usually actually cause that much damage out there. But, you know, at this point, it just feels like: What else is going to happen?
You know, I look back at — in January, I found myself at home. You know, Maduro’s abduction had just happened. And, you know, the idea of an actual U.S. invasion to Cuba for the first time became very real in my head. And we happen to live very close to a military base here in Havana. And I found myself having a conversation with my wife and, you know, basically just thinking, “What room in the house do you think we would survive if they bomb?” And by the end of the conversation, we were just looking at each other and going, like, “Can you believe we’re even having this conversation?”
And I think that’s just the general feeling of being in Cuba right now with everything that’s coming from Washington: What else is going to happen? When is this going to stop?
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Yeah, I’d like to bring in Sara Kozameh, assistant professor in history at the University of California, San Diego. Professor, you’ve been — you’ve visited Cuba over the years, and particularly in the rural parts of the country. You recently returned from Cuba. Could you talk about what you saw and the conditions there?
SARA KOZAMEH: Yeah. Thanks for having me on.
And, you know, I’d just like to say, my experience is very consistent with what Daniel was just explaining. You know, the east is much farther from the ports, in which petroleum and food arrives, and so they have many — they have fewer resources. The situation is much harder. There have been prolonged blackouts for — that have lasted many hours more than they’ve lasted in Havana, for months now, but those have gotten worse in the last few weeks. So, when I was there, they were getting maybe 16 hours of blackouts, and maybe twice a day, three hours of electricity. And within the period that I was there, it was reduced to maybe three hours of electricity a day. And right now it seems that people have gone at least 25 hours, 26 hours since electricity at this point.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to ask Daniel about the response of the Cuban people. Obviously, like we saw with Iran, I mean, you have Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu urging people to rise up in Iran. He says you can, you know, take people to water, but you can’t make them drink. President Trump was urging that. What do you see happening? Are people angrier at the United States or at the Cuban government at this point?
DANIEL MONTERO: I think when you’re hungry, your politics are “I want food.” You know? I think for the majority of people, that’s what they’re feeling. Look, I don’t see, you know, the goal that the U.S. is trying to achieve here, which is the majority of the people rising up. That simply hasn’t happened. There are minor protests, you know, when the blackouts happen, but that’s been happening for the past five years. That is not new. So, like, that change that, you know, the U.S. is hoping to achieve in Cuba is simply not happening right now. I think people are very aware of what’s going on. And they’re, you know, paying the price of the decisions that have been made. But they’re more concerned with “What do I do today? What do I eat tonight?” than anything else, because, as I said, you know, when your concerns are as pressing as those, that is the extent of your politics.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And I wanted to ask also, Professor Kozameh: This Trump claim that the leadership of Cuba must change, that he will decide, this absolute narcissism of our president, that he decides, that he’s the one that makes — that he’s the one that makes change in every one of these countries, your sense of how this is being received among the Cuban people?
SARA KOZAMEH: Yeah, I mean, so, I think it’s not being received well. When I was there just a few weeks ago, I spoke to many people, and I asked them straight up, like, “What do you want to happen? What would you like to see?” And even people who have — you know, who were vocal critics of the political system, and some who were less vocal critics of the political system, nobody — nobody agreed with what Trump was doing. None of them.
And so, I think, you know, Cubans are a highly educated population. They have access to the news. They understand the maneuvers. They understand the tactics. And I think right now they’re feeling really blindsided. They just — you know, it was confirmed on Friday that the government is in negotiations with the United States. And so, the process of sort of, like, understanding and processing that was just beginning on Monday, yesterday, when this announcement happened. And I think, you know, multiple, multiple people told me, with outright anger in their voices, that they wouldn’t allow this, something like this, that they would fight back. So, you know, ultimately, Cubans have fought for sovereignty many, many times, and it doesn’t seem that they’re going to just sort of lie there while this is happening again.
AMY GOODMAN: We just have a minute, and I want to go back to Daniel in Havana, Cuba, about this convoy that is headed to Cuba, many groups involved, including Progressive International, CodePink. How much of a difference at this point does international solidarity make and mean?
DANIEL MONTERO: I would argue that international solidarity is now more important than ever, especially coming from the United States, because, I mean, what everyone is hearing about Cuba is this oil embargo, is how everything is so bad in the country. I mean, the idea of having people coming over and showing a different face coming from the United States, and showing that, you know, we can still help each other, I think this is — I would argue Cuba has needed solidarity for a while now, but it certainly needs it right now.
In terms of the difference it can actually make, I mean, it depends on what they bring in. We need everything that anyone can bring in at this moment. But I think the most important part is the symbolic value of having all of these people coming over and showing their support for the Cuban people, to fight the narrative that’s coming from the Trump administration.
AMY GOODMAN: Daniel Montero, I want to thank you for being with us, Cuban journalist, producer with the independent media outlet Belly of the Beast, joining us from Havana, Cuba, and Sara Kozameh, assistant professor in history at University of California, San Diego. We’ll link to your piece, “In the other US target of regime change, Cuba, I saw real hardship — and resilience.”
Coming up, eight anti-ICE protesters have been convicted on terrorism charges for taking part in a demonstration outside the Prairieland ICE jail in Texas. They each face up to 15 — or, at least 15 years in prison. Back in 20 seconds.
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AMY GOODMAN: Orlando Paz, here on Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.
