How far will Trump go in Cuba?
IRENE HOREJS IN CONVERSATION WITH ARACELY RODRÍGUEZ MALAGÓN, CHRISTOPHER SABATINI AND MICHAEL ZEUSKE
How Far Will Trump Go in Cuba?
In cooperation with the Reseach Group Latin America/University of Vienna and Austrian Institute for Latin America
ATTENTION: THIS EVENT STARTS AT 19:30
Following its military operation on Venezuela on 3rd January, the United States have imposed a blockade on virtually all oil shipments bound for Cuba, plunging the island into the darkest period in its history since the revolution in 1959 - pushing the country towards a humanitarian crisis and its government to the edge of collapse. Since nearly all Cuban energy production depends on oil and petroleum products, citizens are struggling with prolonged blackouts, shortages of gasoline, cooking gas, and dwindling supplies of diesel needed to power the nation's water pumps. Production facilities are closing, trash is piling up, food prices are soaring, transportation is failing, schools and hospitals are suspending services. For now, simmering discontent and social unrest have been suppressed through strict police control. However, estimates indicate that the country's fuel reserves could be exhausted by mid-March with so far unknown humanitarian and political consequences.
What is the goal of Trump's policy of starving the country? What kind of “deal” does he hope to achieve with a country that has limited resources? How are Cubans coping with this crisis? What has been the response of the Cuban government, and what options lie ahead? What are the reactions of the international community?
Aracely Rodríguez Malagón, is a Cuban lawyer and activist, Ph.D in political Science and researcher specialising in gender, race, and decolonial feminism. She has extensive experience in participatory action research and has published numerous essays, interviews, and scholarly articles on gender and raciality, black feminisms, disability among others. Online
Christopher Sabatini is senior fellow for Latin America at Chatham House and author of many articles and briefings on Cuba, Haiti and Venezuela. He was formerly a lecturer in the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. He is also on the Advisory Committee for Human Rights Watch's Americas Division and of the Inter-American Foundation
Michael Zeuske is principal Research Professor at the Centre for Studies on Dependency and Slavery at the University of Bonn and Professor Emeritus of Iberian and Latin American History at the University of Cologne. He is a leading expert in Atlantic and Caribbean history, particularly of Cuba and Venezuela, publishing numerous articles and books, among others “A Short history of Cuba” (2016). He returns from a longer stay in Cuba at the beginning of March.
Moderator:
Irene Horejs, Former EU Ambassador, curator at the Bruno Kreisky Forum specialised on Africa and Latinamerica as well as on development and humanitarian policy.