+- Scivillage.com Casual Discussion Science Forum (https://www.scivillage.com)
+-- Forum: Culture (https://www.scivillage.com/forum-49.html)
+--- Forum: Zymology (https://www.scivillage.com/forum-56.html)
+--- Thread: Article Trump vows to 'take' Cuba as US oil embargo triggers power collapse (Havana brewing) (/thread-19986.html)
Trump vows to 'take' Cuba as US oil embargo triggers power collapse (Havana brewing) - C C - Mar 17, 2026
https://www.euronews.com/2026/03/17/trump-vows-to-take-cuba-as-us-oil-embargo-triggers-power-grid-collapse
INTRO: US President Donald Trump vowed Monday to "take" Cuba as the island's national power grid collapsed under an oil embargo imposed by Washington.
"I do believe I'll be having the honour of taking Cuba," Trump told reporters at the White House. "Whether I free it, take it — think I could do anything I want with it, you want to know the truth. They're a very weakened nation right now."
Cuba's national electricity grid suffered a complete shutdown on Monday, leaving the island of 10 million people without power, according to state-owned grid operator Union Nacional Electrica de Cuba. The company said no faults were detected in operating electrical units and work had begun to restore power.
Cuba has received no oil shipments since 9 January after the US ousted Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro and imposed an effective blockade on fuel deliveries. Trump signed an executive order in January threatening tariffs against any country that sells or provides oil to Cuba.
The island's ageing electricity system already suffered daily outages of up to 20 hours in some areas. The fuel shortage has forced airlines to curtail flights, damaging the tourism sector, while the government has rationed petrol sales and some hospital services.
Trump said Sunday Cuba "wants to make a deal", which could come quickly after his administration finishes the war against Iran. "I think we will pretty soon either make a deal or do whatever we have to do," he said aboard Air Force One.
The New York Times reported Monday, citing anonymous sources, that Trump administration officials have signalled to Cuban officials they want President Miguel Díaz-Canel removed from power. Cuba's Deputy Prime Minister Oscar Perez-Oliva announced Monday that Cuban exiles would now be able to invest in and own businesses on the island.
"Cuba is open to having a fluid commercial relationship with US companies" and "also with Cubans residing in the United States and their descendants," Perez-Oliva told NBC News... (MORE - details)
RE: Trump vows to 'take' Cuba as US oil embargo triggers power collapse (Havana brewing) - confused2 - Mar 17, 2026
Back to 1961..
"The US had trained a paramilitary force of Cuban expatriates, which the CIA led in an attempt to invade Cuba and overthrow its government. Starting in November of that year, the US government engaged in a violent campaign of terrorism and sabotage in Cuba, referred to as the Cuban Project, which continued throughout the first half of the 1960s. The Soviet administration was concerned about a Cuban drift towards China, with which the Soviets had an increasingly fractious relationship. In response to these factors the Soviet and Cuban governments agreed, at a meeting between leaders Nikita Khrushchev and Fidel Castro in July 1962, to place nuclear missiles on Cuba to deter a future US invasion. Construction of launch facilities started shortly thereafter."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Missile_Crisis
Kennedy and Trump are so closely aligned - see also Trump-Kennedy Centre.