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PaperclipPerfector  3mo ago (text post)   26598 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of March 23, 2026

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Look at Cuba, the situation is much, much worse now

Damn its crazy what happens when the world's super power is constantly fucking with it and preventing it from interacting with the world's economy.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/01/addressing-threats-to-the-united-states-by-the-government-of-cuba/

Also I had a good laugh at the title "ADDRESSING THREATS TO THE UNITED STATES BY THE GOVERNMENT OF CUBA"

Further laughs can be had immediately after, with this gem

"The Government of Cuba has taken extraordinary actions that harm and threaten the United States. The regime aligns itself with — and provides support for — numerous hostile countries, transnational terrorist groups, and malign actors adverse to the United States, including the Government of the Russian Federation (Russia), the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the Government of Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah."

Ahh yes Cuba, the rich benefactor of Hamas. Their economy is so dynamic they also support the governments of Russia and China simultaneously!

I live in the fucking clown world universe. My government is not comprised of serious people who want to solve the issues my nation faces.

You are easily amused. There is no contradiction between a country being poor and being able to harm the United States. Especially if it has a command economy where the rulers can arbitrarily decide to spend the budget on the latter and not care about the poor people.

Care to share some of Cuba's nefarious plots against the USA? What have they actually done to harm the USA since the Cuban Missile Crisis?

"Nefarious plot" is a very apt way to describe "cooking the heads of US intelligence personnel with a sound cannon."

I'm reminded of Scott's article about rising crime rates, which fails to take into account that if crime rises, and you use costly anti-crime measures, that restores the status quo so that's "no increase in crime", even though the impact of crime has gone up.

Cuba hasn't been able to harm the US much because the US exerts effort to stop it from causing harm, but this effort has a cost, and being forced to pay the cost is itself harm. Where it still does harm the US is mostly on the diplomatic and propaganda front.

but this effort has a cost, and being forced to pay the cost is itself harm

The USA cries out in pain as it strikes you. What cost exactly has the USA paid for the most recent round of "if you trade with Cuba we'll tariff you" or any of the items I listed here

Tariffing countries for trading with Cuba has a huge political and diplomatic cost.

Which the USA has gladly been paying for practically 0 gain for the last 12 months (not even related to Cuba, basically just for love of the game) so clearly it's not that painful lol

I mean, Cuba has had decades to wreck itself before the US decided to embargo anyone trading with them just this year.

You will not find me carrying water for the Cuban government, who I understand to be ideological morons.

But its started earlier than January 2026.

1992 The Cuban Democracy Act barred foreign subsidiaries of U.S. companies from trading with Cuba, extending the sanctions beyond direct U.S.-Cuba commerce. It imposed the 180-day vessel rule, penalizing ships that traded with Cuba by barring them from U.S. ports for six months afterward. It also directed the U.S. government to pressure other countries to restrict trade and credit with Cuba.

1996 The Helms-Burton Act directed the U.S. to oppose Cuba’s entry into international financial institutions. It also created Title III lawsuits and Title IV visa penalties aimed at foreign companies and executives dealing in confiscated property in Cuba, explicitly raising the cost and legal risk of non-U.S. investment in Cuba.

2017 The U.S. created the Cuba Restricted List and barred direct financial transactions with listed entities tied to Cuba’s military, intelligence, and security services, deliberately steering outside money away from large parts of the Cuban economy.

2019 The U.S. activated Title III of Helms-Burton, after years of suspension, allowing lawsuits against foreign firms accused of trafficking in confiscated Cuban property. Increased legal risk of foreign investment in Cuba.

2019 The U.S. ended group “people-to-people” travel to Cuba and banned cruise ships, yachts, and many private aircraft from travelling there, directly cutting off tourism revenue.

2019 The U.S. sanctioned vessels and firms involved in Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba, targeting Cuba’s outside energy supply.

Less serious, but general squeezing of remittance flows: 1994, 2019, 2020

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