By Rosa Míriam Elizalde, PhD in Communication Sciences / Havana, Cuba

Published in La Jornada / Mexico

Marco Rubio -- Little Marco, as his boss in the White House calls him -- is ignored by Trumpist diplomacy, but he has been given the underhanded task of intensifying the attack on the island where his parents were born as a consolation prize.

President Trump doesn't consider him when negotiating with Netanyahu, Zelensky, or Putin, but in less than a month, the Secretary of State has managed to push through seven measures against Cuba that raise the collective punishment imposed by the U.S. blockade to unbearable levels.

Typically announced on Friday afternoons, almost no one has heard about them and they appear disconnected from each other, but they are a package projected like a barrage against Cubans on the island and even those living abroad: Reinstatement of Cuba to the list of state sponsors of terrorism.  This is the most severe measure of the financial siege against the island, applied without real justification.

It significantly aggravates the effects of the economic and commercial blockade by discouraging international banks and institutions from operating with Cuba for fear of US sanctions.  The reinstatement of this country to the list entails additional obstacles to importing essential goods, receiving loans, and accessing international financing.

Reinstatement of the list of restricted Cuban entities. The list of Cuban companies and entities with which the United States prohibits citizens and companies from conducting any transactions has been reactivated and updated. This clearly extraterritorial measure seeks to impede trade and investment in key sectors of the Cuban economy.  It particularly affects tourism and financial transactions with third countries.

Reactivation of Title III of the Helms-Burton Act.  It allows U.S. citizens (including Cubans naturalized in the US) to file lawsuits in U.S. courts against foreign companies that invest in properties nationalized in Cuba after the 1959 Revolution.  This measure seeks to prevent foreign investment and create legal uncertainty for international companies interested in doing business with Cuba.

Suspension of the license for transactions with Orbit SA. As part of the financial war, the Trump administration has suspended the license that allowed the Cuban company Orbit SA to receive remittances from the United States.  This directly affects thousands of Cuban families who depend on these incomes to cover basic needs.  By cutting off one of the few sources of foreign currency, it seeks to further weaken the Cuban economy and create an internal social crisis.

Suspension of humanitarian parole and family reunification.  A large portion of the more than 900,000 Cubans who have arrived in the U.S. since October 2021 could be deported under the Trump administration's new provisions.  With the tightening of the blockade, Washington encouraged them to leave Cuba and immigrate to the U.S., and now seeks to deport them.

Suspension of visas for exchanges. In a clear attempt to weaken cultural and academic ties, the Trump administration has suspended visas for Cubans participating in cultural, academic, and scientific exchanges in the U.S.  No Cuban team, not even children's, will be allowed to participate in regional or bilateral sports competitions on U.S. soil.

Visa restrictions on collaborators of Cuban cooperation programs. In a particularly aggressive action, visa restrictions have been imposed on Cubans and foreigners linked to South-South cooperation programs in which Cuba participates, especially in the health sector.

This measure is part of the smear campaign against Cuban medical missions, affects Cuba's ability to provide medical assistance in numerous countries, and criminalizes third-country nationals involved in collaboration projects with Cuba.

Furthermore, the Trump administration has included Cuba on the list of "foreign adversaries," along with Venezuela, Iran, Russia, and China, thus limiting Cuban access to U.S. technology, especially in Artificial Intelligence.

And it's about to get worse.  The New York Times leaked this week that the Trump administration has drawn up a red list of countries whose citizens would be "categorically prohibited" from entering the United States.  Of course, the island is on this list, which also includes Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen.

The monster, as Austrian Nobel laureate Elfriede Jelinek would say, can be heard breathing.