2026-10-20
5 分钟Hi there, this is Jason Palmer, co-host of The Intelligence, our daily news and current affairs show.
This is Editor's Picks, where we take an unmissable article from the latest edition of The Economist
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Since his return to power, President Donald Trump has made clear that he hopes to bring down Cuba's repressive regime.
This year, he struck upon a cruel approach, blockading the impoverished island's fuel supply.
The idea was that growing hardship would spur Cubans to protest and then to topple their vile leaders.
Misery duly followed as Cubans suffered more blackouts, buses stopped running, and food got more expensive.
Political change did not come.
Yet, by accident or design, the blockade has still created an opportunity.
For decades, Cuba got most of its imported fuel from Venezuela,
and, as with most of the economy, Cuba's government had a monopoly over the trade.
That arrangement collapsed in January when American forces captured Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela
and threatened sanctions on anyone who sent oil to Cuba's regime.
Facing paralysis, the island's government loosened its grip on private businesses,
letting them import fuel for the first time since the revolution in 1959. America's administration,
in turn, authorized exporters to sell it to them.
American fuel exports to Cuba's private sector are now rising swiftly.
This happily is relieving a portion of the suffering that the sudden blockade has caused.
The heavy fuel that is necessary to keep Cuba's power stations running is not yet flowing,