Overview
- President Donald Trump said on July 1 that Cuba is “approaching” the U.S. orbit, a remark that contrasts with other U.S. actions pressuring the island.
- The U.S. has expanded sanctions this spring and imposed an effective oil blockade that Cuban officials say has driven daily blackouts, transport paralysis, and wider economic hardship.
- U.S. authorities reported the detention of Carlos Antonio Lloga Domínguez, whom they call a decade-long agent tied to the Instituto Cubano de Amistad con los Pueblos and who is awaiting expulsion.
- Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel rejected any rapprochement, described U.S. rhetoric as psychological warfare, said Cuba is preparing to defend itself, and requested a UN General Assembly session for July 7 to denounce the blockade.
- The dispute layers economic coercion on top of Cuba’s recent market-oriented reforms and the loss of fuel suppliers, raising risks of miscalculation and prolonging hardships for ordinary Cubans while drawing the issue to international fora.