February 13, 2026
As the White House threatens war against Cuba, I am reminded of the charming evenings my parents and I spent at Havana’s venerable ‘Floridita Bar, sipping a newly invented cocktail, the Margarita, with the renowned writer, Ernest Hemingway.
`Papa’ Hemingway, who then lived in Cuba, loved this island with a great passion and wrote about it often. I feel the same way. I’ve been visiting Cuba since before Castro took over and feel at home in this socialist nation, no matter how threadbare or destitute.
Cubans, whom I call ‘the aristocrats of the West Indies’, have managed to survive efforts by the mighty U.S. to starve, isolate, and attack them for the past five decades. I’ve even been twice in battle against Cuban troops in Angola, Africa. They were valiant and competent soldiers.
Few Americans or Canadians know that Havana is even older than my native New York City. Sadly, today once gorgeous, sultry Havana is falling into ruins after seven generations of crushing embargo by the United States. Cuba’s revolutionary strongman, Fidel Castro, refused to bow to U.S. pressure or take orders from Washington.
The U.S. sought to sabotage Cuba’s sugar-based economy, mounting an amazingly inept invasion in 1961. Cuba became a highly repressive communist regime, thanks to important help from the Soviet Union. Anti-Castro Cuban exiles in Florida kept up a half century effort to get Washington to continue efforts to overthrow the Castro regime.
This campaign continues today. The Trump administration dominates Florida’s Castro-hating Republicans who are the core of its electoral strength. Trump just took over Venezuela with the primary purpose of cutting off the essential oil aid Caracas was giving Havana. Cuba, out of oil, is now shutting down. Half of Cuba’s electricity is gone, so too factories, public transport, flights and military forces. Food shortages are everywhere. Cuba’s tourism business – its economic lifeline – is dying rapidly Major European, Canadian and US airlines have cancelled flights due to the growing fuel shortage.
This strangulation of Cuba is intended to paralyze the island, then provoke uprisings against the government. To its credit, Mexico is delivering emergency food aid by sea and says it plans to provide oil to besieged Cuba. But this modest aid won’t be enough to keep Cuba’s nine million people from starving.
Meanwhile, Florida’s exiled Cubans, led by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, are gleefully watching the Communist regime flounder. Among Florida’s 400-500,000 Cuban exiles there is frantic politicking to form a government in exile or plan future waterfront developments in Havana and bring back the bad old days of prostitution and gambling. Venezuela and Cuba will return to being US colonies. Whatever Russian influence there is in the West indies will be quickly kicked out.
The Trump forces will get all those Cuban votes in Florida, thus winning one of the most important electoral states. Havana will come to look like Ft. Lauderdale, likely redeveloped the same way that the current White House plans for another annoying people, the Palestinians.
Copyright Eric S. Margolis 2026
Yes, it looks like under a hostile America, the Monroe doctrine will come to pass. With Cuba largely going back to what it was before 1959. The US will have all vassal dictators in place throughout the Latin American countries. Maybe Jared will turn New Cuba into the Jewel of the American Empire. I can hardly wait to book my ticket. Lol
“Will Cuba Return To U.S. Colonial Rule?” sez the title of this article. If only they should be so lucky, given the historical record. Under Castro (and his truly vicious ( and it is said smelly unhygienic) henchman Che Guevara) Cuba was the bitch of the old degenerate U.S.S.R. From what I have read pre-Castro Cuba, for all its faults, was a place that actually attracted immigrants from Iberian Europe. Contrast that with Castro’s Cuba were people risked dangerous excisions on makeshift rafts to escape Fidel’s paradise. The Castro myth is so stupid only intellectuals like Pierre Trudeau could believe it.
P.S.- Isn’t it the absolutely earth shattering refutation of all Communist apologists that their vision of Paradise always included draconian security destined to pen people IN. Stalinist utopias never had to worry about a runway immigration crisis, only a a desperate attempt to turn their countries into a vast prison. Get the hint, Uncle Joe, your can’t maintain a livable society.
Most socialist regimes fail… not because they are a real problem; check the situation in China…
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It’s OK to point out the human rights abuses and overlook the war crimes committed by the US and the extrajudicial murders around the world with Venezuela being the most recent. This includes kidnapping. There is also the genocide in Gaza, aided, abetted and financed by the US. It’s also OK to overlook the clampdown on free speech by the EU, and the threat to take over Venezuela and Greenland. Is Canada next? The US is a rogue state and a bully.
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70 years ago, China was one of the poorest countries in the world; they have come a long way. They have pulled a billion people out of poverty in that time. Their incomes have increased several times, while the incomes of the western countries have stayed relatively static. The US has diminished the middle class from 70% to 40% in the last four decades. Their retirement age is 65 while the retirement age in western countries is increasing. Their life expectancy is greater than the US and is increasing while the US is decreasing. In nearly the same time, China has raised their middle class from 5.8% to 79%. While the US has lowered the middle class by nearly one half, China has raised theirs by nearly thirteen times. China controls the banking class rather than lets the banking class run the country.
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Their education system has similarly improved. In the last decade (2016 to 2026) of the twenty top universities, China has gone from three positions on the list to sixteen positions on the list. The top position ten years ago was Harvard University, now it is Zhejiang University and Harvard University is number three. University of Toronto has gone from second place to tenth place.
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Their structures and infrastructure rivals that of any ‘progressive’ western country. China is producing 1.3 million engineers per year; the US is producing 139,000. China has less than five times the US population, but produces ten times the number of engineers. The rest of their education system is similar. China is ahead in most technical matters; I wonder why China is winning the race.
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Their belt and road initiative is actually helping third-world countries where the ‘help’ provided by the west exploits them.
I would suggest their recovery has been remarkable and worthy of recognition. I suspect they are just beginning. Why is China denigrated? It may be that the western countries don’t want their citizens to see how well China is progressing.
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In addition, because the US puts embargos on other socialist countries the people suffer… it’s the US intention that the citizens overthrow the government. Socialism is not bad but the US goes out of its way to make it bad.
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I concur with you about Turdeau… but for different reasons. His big problem was that he couldn’t put up with an alternate opinion… sounds familiar. Jean Cretien was one of his flunkies and his reign as PM shows it. Diefenbaker was also one of the worst and was the beginning of Canada’s slippery slope downfall.
“As the White House threatens war against Cuba, I am reminded of the charming evenings my parents and I spent at Havana’s venerable ‘Floridita Bar, sipping a newly invented cocktail, the Margarita, with the renowned writer, Ernest Hemingway.”
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I don’t often envy items, but I’m envious of your history. You have lived through miraculous times.
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“`Papa’ Hemingway, who then lived in Cuba, loved this island with a great passion and wrote about it often. I feel the same way. I’ve been visiting Cuba since before Castro took over and feel at home in this socialist nation, no matter how threadbare or destitute.
Cubans, whom I call ‘the aristocrats of the West Indies’, have managed to survive efforts by the mighty U.S. to starve, isolate, and attack them for the past five decades.”
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The problems and the condition of the people are largely caused by embargoes and sanctions applied by the Americans. The Americans have been responsible for thousands of Cuban deaths. The people seem to have the strength and resiliency of Fidel. Infant mortality in Cuba is lower than it is in the United States.
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“The U.S. sought to sabotage Cuba’s sugar-based economy, mounting an amazingly inept invasion in 1961.”
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The ‘Bay of Pigs’ comes to mind. It was an interesting time for Kennedy, if I recall.
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“Cuba became a highly repressive communist regime, thanks to important help from the Soviet Union. Anti-Castro Cuban exiles in Florida kept up a half century effort to get Washington to continue efforts to overthrow the Castro regime.”
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It will be interesting to see if Russia and China comes to Cuba’s aid. I’m expecting to see a Russian tanker show up, any day now. Cuba can benefit greatly from the Chinese ‘Belt and Roads Initiative’. The US has to learn to keep from their ‘empire meddling’.
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“This campaign continues today. The Trump administration dominates Florida’s Castro-hating Republicans who are the core of its electoral strength. Trump just took over Venezuela with the primary purpose of cutting off the essential oil aid Caracas was giving Havana. Cuba, out of oil, is now shutting down. Half of Cuba’s electricity is gone, so too factories, public transport, flights and military forces. Food shortages are everywhere. Cuba’s tourism business – its economic lifeline – is dying rapidly Major European, Canadian and US airlines have cancelled flights due to the growing fuel shortage.”
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All this misery has been caused by the US, and the world ‘puts up with it’.
Hemmingway even ended it with a Purdey fowling piece… Classy to the very end.