Cuba doesn't have 'tensions' with the US

Donald Trump’s regime has been tightening the US stranglehold on Cuba. And Pope Leo XIV’s take on the events has attracted criticism. Because it shows the kind of establishment propaganda the world is up against.

On X, the first US pope of the Catholic church lamented:

an increase in tensions between Cuba and the United States of America

The “economic terrorism” of the US embargo has now strangled the Caribbean island for over six decades, reportedly costing it $170bn. But the pope seemed to think both-sidesing the issue was appropriate. And reacting to Trump’s unprovoked decision to squeeze Cuba even harder, Leo simply called on “all responsible parties” to negotiate.

Fortunately, people were quick to challenge the pope’s ridiculous framing of the issue:

Collective punishment by the USA against Cuba isn't "tension" it's a war crime.

— John Smith (son of Harry Leslie Smith) (@Harryslaststand) February 1, 2026

The only thing ‘increasing’, Puerto Rican professor Rafael Bernabe clarified, is the:

systematic aggression of the US government against Cuba

There are no "increasing tensions" between Cuba and the United States. That implies that Cuba is taking action to increase tensions with the United States. There is nothing of the sort. There's only increased and systematic aggression of the US government against Cuba, which must…

— Rafael Bernabe (@BernabeMVC) February 1, 2026

To be fair, Leo did call for dialogue to “avoid violence” and further suffering of the Cuban people (indirectly clarifying that it’s the US posing the threat and that Cuba poses no threat at all to US civilians). But his both-sidesing seems to be an echo of Catholic leaders’ longstanding hostility to communism.

Amid the US terror assault in Latin America during the Cold War, for example, many Catholics in the region wanted to stand clearly with ordinary people against ongoing inequality and injustice. But the church hierarchy in Europe attacked and silenced progressive voices while appointing conservative figures in their place.

You can’t defeat the empire without defeating its propaganda

The issue here isn’t communism, though. It’s that the US has long been terrorising civilians whose governments don’t submit to its rule. Trump’s regime may treat international law with more overt contempt. But it’s nonetheless a pattern of behaviour that Western propaganda enables.

To help break this cycle, we need to centre the key context. That means highlighting how the US:

Is a military superpower with hundreds of international bases.
Has consistently terrorised countries around the world.
Is a co-perpetrator of Israel’s genocide in Gaza. And it has attacked the international legal system to defend these actions.
Has undermined international law by imposing an illegal embargo on Cuba since the early 1960s, costing both countries billions. The majority of countries in the world have consistently called for an end to the embargo. The US and Israel have often been the only ones to oppose that call.
Tightening of sanctions since the first Trump administration has “hurt civilians the most“, increasing infant mortality and reducing life expectancy.
Currently holds Venezuela’s president as a prisoner of war. It abducted him in an illegal military invasion that used new high-tech weaponry. And it probably committed war crimes in the process. But the US president boasted about how “incredible” this all was.

It also means emphasising that Cuba:

Is willing to engage peacefully and lawfully with the US. And it has never attacked the US or its people.
Has supported countless liberation movements in the past, including in the battle that helped to defeat settler-colonial apartheid in South Africa. But since the end of the Cold War, it has no longer done this.
Has its issues, but has also made significant advances in healthcare and education since its 1959 revolution. And it has sent hundreds of thousands of doctors on solidarity missions around the world.

Name the real ‘malign actor’ – US imperialism!

Despite all of the above, the US insists that it’s going after Cuba because of its links to “malign actors“. These include China and Russia, with which the US itself has sought to improve relations. But some truth always slips through, and the White House has clarified that Cuba’s continuing independence is:

threatening the foreign policy of the United States.

The foreign policy of the US, as has long been the case, is to ensure the dominance of US elite interests in the Americas. Trump’s stance on Cuba follows this policy, while also appeasing and exciting his anti-communist voters, agitators (like secretary of state Marco Rubio), and racist warmongers in general.

There will be resistance from within Cuba itself. And countries in the region like Mexico may refuse to play along with Trump’s power games completely. Resistance to Trump’s shamelessly brash version of US imperialism needs to be much stronger, though.

Trump has shown that he will back down when he feels too much pressure from other countries. He’s just pushing the world to see how far it will let him go. And the more lazy framing we get from high-profile figures like the pope, the easier Trump’s rampage will be.

Featured image via the Canary