President Trump removes additional tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, including Order 14380 on Cuba, following a Supreme Court decision.

Feb 23, 2026 — teleSUR

President Donald J. Trump recently signed an Executive Order eliminating temporarily the additional ad valorem tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), affecting provisions against China, Venezuela, Brazil, Russia, Cuba, and Iran.

The measure, recentrly announced on the official White House website, stipulates that the additional tariffs will cease to be in effect and their collection will be discontinued as soon as possible. However, the national emergencies declared in those Executive Orders and the rest of their provisions will remain in effect, according to the official document.

The new order instructs the heads of each department and Executive agency to take immediate steps to end the collection of the additional tariffs. Furthermore, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the United States Trade Representative, in consultation with other authorities, may amend the Harmonized Tariff Schedule to comply with the presidential order.

The text clarifies that the order does not create any enforceable rights or benefits against the U.S. Government and that its implementation will be subject to existing legislation and the availability of resources. This legal clarification seeks to define the administrative scope of the measure in the face of potential legal challenges.

Supreme Court Ruling

The presidential decision is a direct consequence of the Supreme Court’s ruling, which determined by a vote of six to three that the IEEPA “does not grant the president the authority to establish or increase tariffs on imported goods simply by declaring a national emergency.”

This ruling limited the interpretive scope of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the legal framework under which the additional tariffs had been imposed between 2025 and 2026 in response to what Washington described as “unusual and extraordinary threats” to U.S. national security, foreign policy, or the economy.

Supreme Court Ruling

The presidential decision is a direct consequence of the Supreme Court’s ruling, which determined by a vote of six to three that the IEEPA “does not grant the president the authority to establish or increase tariffs on imported goods simply by declaring a national emergency.”

This ruling limited the interpretive scope of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the legal framework under which the additional tariffs had been imposed between 2025 and 2026 in response to what Washington described as “unusual and extraordinary threats” to U.S. national security, foreign policy, or the economy.

Washington intensifies pressure with measures that endanger the lives of thousands, even accusing it of genocide

Feb 22, 2026 — teleSUR

The Cuban energy crisis is deepening amid aggression imposed by the Trump administration against its people. Two months after the United States declared a national emergency over its policy toward Havana and announced sanctions against countries that supply fuel to the island, Moscow indicates that it is actively working to support a historic ally .

“We are helping, but I will not reveal the details,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak stated , announcing that Moscow is actively working to support Havana during its complex energy crisis. His statement coincides with an escalation of US sanctions aimed at economically strangling Cuba, a measure the Cuban government describes as an ongoing “ genocide .”

Valentina Matvienko , Speaker of the Russian Senate, expressed her concern days ago during her meeting with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla , who also met with President Vladimir Putin: “The energy blockade represents genocide against the Cuban people.”

“You know Russia ‘s opinion of your country and the Cuban people. Not only is Cuba our key strategic partner and a long-standing friend, but it is also a brother country and a brotherly people to us,” Matvienko stated, adding that many people express their support for Havana against U.S. actions.

The blockade is being experienced on the street

For more than six decades, the US-imposed blockade has hampered the country’s economic and social development. In recent years, its intensification—particularly during the Trump administration—has further tightened the noose around strategic sectors such as energy.

From a corner of the market, Miriam shows an almost empty bag while talking about the lack of control: “Two weeks ago, oil was 920 pesos, then it disappeared and now it has reappeared at 1,200. Eggs have gone up again…”

“Bread has more or less stayed the same, but chicken has gone up to 450 pesos a pound in some places, spaghetti to 500, tomato puree to 500, and toothpaste to 400,” lists Ernesto as he leaves a micro, small, and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) , reflecting a phenomenon documented by Cubadebate .

” SMEs limit the percentage of purchases made by transfer, while agricultural market vendors claim they cannot operate without cash because the bank does not allow them to withdraw money to pay producers.”

The Minister of Public Health, José Ángel Portal Miranda , denounced that more than 32,800 pregnant women face additional risks due to the fuel shortage, which paralyzes the collection of toxic waste and favors diseases such as dengue and chikungunya.

“What human rights is the US government talking about when its actions put lives at risk?” wrote Portal Miranda in X, where he announced postponements of surgeries affecting thousands of patients, many of them children.

“The inevitable postponement of surgical procedures… has a direct impact on thousands of patients , many of them children,” he stated. Primary care remains the cornerstone of the healthcare system, but he warned that “the lack of medicines and fuel seriously affects cancer patients, diabetics, and minors.”

But they also manifest themselves in the collective response : in spontaneous solidarity, in community solutions. “Despite the pain, the Cuban people have not allowed the blockade to take away their dignity,” the official statement affirms.

While Moscow closely observes the evolution of the conflict, with Novak confirming Russian efforts to support a historical ally, the reality in Cuba remains dramatic: each passing day further strengthens the position of those who see the US blockade as a direct threat to the survival of the Cuban people.

Author: teleSUR: DRB

Source: Agencies – Cubadebate

Washington, Feb 22 (Prensa Latina) Despite a winter storm warning, activists and community organizers from New York arrived in Manhattan today to show their commitment and support for Cuba in the face of the growing aggression of the United States government.

• February 22, 2026 | 3:59 PM

The group braved the bad weather to make it clear that the American people oppose the ban on oil entering the island following an executive order signed on January 29 by President Donald Trump, who threatened to impose unilateral coercive tariffs against any country that sells fuel to Cuba.

By preventing the supply of oil to the Caribbean country, it is reinforcing the economic, financial and commercial blockade that has weighed on the people of the Antillean nation for more than six decades.

Willie Cotton, organizer of the Cuba Sí coalition in New York and New Jersey, highlighted the resilience of the Cuban people and reaffirmed the need for collective efforts at this special moment.

The group emphasized that this crisis generated by the United States created difficult conditions for Cuba, but also forged “a new commitment of solidarity from people around the world.”

For his part, Ike Nahem, coordinator of the U.S. committee for the normalization of relations with Cuba, declared: “We are here to tell Cuba that we are committed to ending this blockade and allowing the arrival of oil.”

“Similar demonstrations are taking place in cities across the United States and Canada,” he said, “because this escalation has made international solidarity even more necessary.”

The protest in New York took place in preparation for the “Cuba Under Siege” conference, scheduled for March 14 and 15.

The event will bring together a broad coalition of groups and representatives of solidarity with Cuba in the search for a strategy of action to stop the current hostility and threat of military aggression.

SOLIDARITY ALSO IN CHICAGO

Solidarity activists with Cuba gained new support this weekend in Chicago at the national convention of the Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA), the youth section of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

The conference, with 400 attendees, represents YDSA’s affiliates from across the country. Most came from cities and campuses where solidarity committees with Cuba do not yet exist, but there is interest in creating such groups, according to a statement.

At the meeting, books and pamphlets were distributed about the family code, the “Let Cuba Play” campaign to obtain US visas for Cuban Olympic athletes, and Cuba’s role in Africa in defending the liberation movements of that continent.

The speeches of the Argentine-Cuban guerrilla fighter Ernesto “Che” Guevara also aroused the greatest interest.

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“I’m ready to fight. We won’t back down; surrender is not an option for Cubans. We decide our own destiny, no one else,” says Enma, a mother and teacher.

February 21, 2026 — teleSUR

Cuba has now endured more than six decades under a severe US economic, commercial, and financial blockade, a reality that has transformed daily life into an obstacle course. The embargo not only impacts the economy but also the very heart of families.

In recent weeks, this pressure has intensified with new restrictive measures from Washington aimed at preventing fuel shipments to the island, triggering an energy crisis that is testing, once again, the Caribbean nation’s capacity for reinvention. But amidst the scarcity, popular organization and, above all, the strength of Cuban women are emerging.

Emma Doris: between healing and hope

Emma Doris Ricardo Santana, a mother and university professor, knows firsthand the weight of these restrictions. Her life took a dramatic turn when an aggressive form of breast cancer forced her to leave the classroom. 

The blockade hindered his recovery : the shortage of cytostatic serums prevented him from receiving the full treatment within the planned timeframe.

The lack of medication was compounded by the ordeal of transportation , forcing her to travel between three different hospitals. Despite everything, Emma recovered thanks to the dedication of Cuban public healthcare and an unbreakable network of support. 

“Medicine heals, but so does solidarity. That’s what makes you get up,” he says with a recovered smile, although his eyes reveal a latent concern.

His 10-year-old daughter, Claudia, suffers from a growth disorder . The necessary reagents and hormones are not reaching the island due to the sanctions.

“The family’s priority is her. The little girl needs treatment that we can’t yet provide in Cuba,” she explains. But far from giving up, Emma remains resolute: “I’m ready to fight. We won’t back down; surrender is not in the Cuban spirit. We decide our own destiny, no one else.”

The dream of becoming a mother in the face of adversity

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At 29, Rocío Rincón has only one goal in life: to be a mother. A civilian employee at the Carlos J. Finley Hospital, she lives with a pituitary tumor that has prevented her from fulfilling her dream . In her home, a Yoruba altar and a painting of five angel girls watch over her longing.

“None of those children are mine, but having a baby is my goal,” she confesses with a deep but serene sadness. Rocío is grateful that her treatment is free thanks to the Cuban healthcare system, although the instability in the supply of medications—which often depend on donations from friendly countries—is a constant shadow.

“ Too many people are suffering because of this blockade. With Trump, the situation is much more aggressive; these are measures to suffocate us, but they won’t succeed,” Rocío declares, reflecting the feelings of thousands of women who, between deprivation and faith, refuse to relinquish control of their future.

Manuel Isla Community: sowing sovereignty in the most remote corner

Far from the hustle and bustle of the capital, the Manuel Isla community —named in honor of a young martyr of the Revolution—stands as a model of self-management. There, professionals, educators, and workers have built an oasis of resistance. 

In this environment lives María Eva Puentes Torres, a Santiago baker in her sixties who works wearing an apron adorned with bunnies and battles power outages to deliver her cakes. Each cake is a work of art and a testament to resilience. 

“The blackouts take away our ability to work and affect my university daughter’s studies, who can’t even charge her phone to watch her classes,” she confesses indignantly. 

However, his stance is unwavering : “This country is ours. We will resist with creativity. No one here surrenders.”

Ainara: The voice of the future that is not afraid

Cuban bravery knows no age. Ainara Neira Reyes, at just 11 years old , speaks with the maturity of someone who understands that her school is a bastion of values. Although the blockade limits her access to pencils, notebooks, or even the possibility of playing volleyball because there are no balls, she feels protected by her teachers.

“We pioneers always go ahead,” says Ainara, who keeps herself informed daily and understands that external hatred seeks to break her spirit. 

His message to the children of the world is one of pure solidarity : “We are going through a difficult time, but if you go through something similar, we will support you from here. Don’t give up!”

The language of the “indomitable guerrilla”

As Tatiana Coll, a longtime collaborator on the island and witness to the 1970 sugar harvest, rightly recalls , Cubans have a special nature : perhaps in their daily routine they seem relaxed, but “as soon as the trumpet of defense sounds, nobody can surpass them.” 

They activate in guerrilla mode , a characteristic that Fidel taught them and that today women —from the pastry chef to the pioneer— embody with a dignity that does not understand surrender.

In Cuba, resistance is not just a political concept; it’s a mother’s hand baking a cake in the dark, a girl defending her right to education, and a community that, faced with fuel shortages, decides to grow its own food. Solidarity and sovereignty, definitively, have a woman’s face.

Author: TeleSUR – ac – DE

Source: La Jornada – Agencies

February 20, 2026 — Belly of the Beast

“Policy goals cannot justify actions that in themselves violate human rights,” said UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Spokesperson Marta Hurtado on February 13.

Three special rapporteurs from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a statement last week that said: “The U.S. executive order imposing a fuel blockade on Cuba is a serious violation of international law and a grave threat to a democratic and equitable international order.”

They added that the Trump administration’s claims that Cuba supports terrorism and represents an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security lack credibility.

Marta Hurtado, spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, questions how Cuba can overcome its current crisis while facing some of the most severe sanctions in the world.

According to Hurtado, decades-long sanctions, recent U.S. measures restricting oil shipments, and extreme weather events are converging into a nationwide emergency. Fuel shortages are disrupting hospitals, intensive care units, vaccine storage, water-pumping systems and food distribution.

More than 80% of Cuba’s water infrastructure depends on electricity, and rolling blackouts are undermining access to clean water, sanitation and basic healthcare.

Hurtado’s remarks highlight a growing concern inside UN institutions about the humanitarian impact of sanctions and the limits they impose on a country’s ability to respond to economic and social emergencies.

February 20, 2026 — Belly of the Beast

Belly of the Beast journalist Liz Oliva Fernández was interviewed last week on the Chapo Trap House podcast. She spoke about the tightening of the blockade, solar energy, healthcare and the Cuban-American lobby.

“A lot of people in Cuba are realizing that this propaganda we’ve been getting [from the U.S.] that the blockade isn’t real, that sanctions only affect the Cuban government, is bullshit,” Liz said. “For the first time, these Cuban-American politicians are publicly saying that ‘if your mother is hungry and your kids don’t have access to medication, this is the price you have to pay to get freedom.’ And people in Cuba are like: ‘Wait, what? I have to suffer so that you can bring us freedom? This is crazy.’”

Other recent appearances by Liz:

• ​The Real News Network’s Marc Steiner Show
• ​The Millennials Are Killing Capitalism show​
• ​Radio LoRa’s Salpicada Feminista podcast (in Spanish)​

Our reporting was also featured on MS NOW on February 14.

Washington, Feb 15 (Prensa Latina) The Let Cuba Live donation campaign in the United States aims to send solar panels to keep hospitals running and save lives on the island amid the blockade reinforced by President Donald Trump.

• February 15, 2026 | 12:55

The campaign, a collaborative effort involving the New York-based organization The People’s Forum, seeks urgent relief from the situation created after Trump’s executive order of January 29, which declared a national emergency regarding Cuba and, to address it, decided on a blockade of oil imports.

“Trump’s fuel embargo is trying to cripple Cuba,” The People’s Forum said in a public message on X.

“Don’t let them get away with it. Help us send solar panels to keep hospitals running and save lives. Trump can’t block the sun! Long live Cuba!” he emphasized.

The Republican president threatened coercive tariffs on countries that directly or indirectly defied the measure and sold fuel to the Caribbean nation. This action, which has extraterritorial reach, tightens the unilateral embargo imposed on Cuba more than 60 years ago.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, during his trip to the Munich Security Conference in Germany, reaffirmed the hostile rhetoric towards Cuba in interviews given to the press, telling them, among other things, that the “Cuban regime” does not have a real economic policy and does not know how to improve the daily lives of its people.

To which some X users responded: “It’s a little difficult to have an economic policy when little Cuba is living a life sanctioned by the US empire” or “More than 60 years of US sanctions, and they still pretend that the Cuban economy collapsed ‘on its own’.”

This week, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, a member of the United States House of Representatives, denounced the cruel and despotic oil blockade against Cuba by the Trump administration.

“The U.S. oil embargo against Cuba is cruel and despotic,” wrote the Democratic representative from Minnesota in X, stating that “it is an economic war designed to strangle an island, where innocent civilians will pay with their lives to force regime change.”

“We must lift the blockade NOW,” demanded Omar, one of the voices of the more progressive wing of the Democratic Party within the United States Congress.

Her social media post on Thursday was accompanied by an article published in The Wall Street Journal about the situation in Cuba following Trump’s order.

Another statement at the Capitol came from Jim McGovern, Ranking Member of the House Rules Committee, who introduced a new bill to lift the blockade against Cuba.

HR 7521, the United States-Cuba Trade Act, would repeal or amend several decades-old laws that restrict trade, exchange, telecommunications, and travel with Cuba, he noted.

A similar bill, S. 136, was introduced in the United States Senate by Democratic lawmakers Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley from Oregon.

He also warned that this economic blockade “is not only absurdly ineffective, but counterproductive and harms precisely (…) ordinary people and their families who are denied food, medicine and basic products.”

On February 3, 1962, US President John F. Kennedy signed the decree establishing the blockade against Cuba. Four days after that order was issued, Washington’s illegal and inhumane policy became official, a policy that remains the longest unilateral embargo in history against any country.

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The flotilla is scheduled to set sail in March to defy the energy blockade and deliver food and medicine to the island.

february 14, 2026 — teleSUR

nternational solidarity is organizing to confront the intensifying economic siege against Cuba. A global coalition of unions and social movements confirmed the dispatch of a flotilla carrying essential supplies. This initiative responds to the need to break the energy strangulation policy that Cuba is suffering following recent pressure from the White House.

Under the name “Our America ,” the convoy will sail through the Caribbean in March to deliver essential food and medicine. Organizers explained that the strategy is inspired by the resilience of the Sumud Global Flotilla. The main objective is to break the logistical blockade that currently prevents Cuba from accessing vital products.

READ ALSO:

The Our America Flotilla is announced to deliver humanitarian aid to Cuba under US blockade.

Political leaders such as Jeremy Corbyn and Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib have publicly supported this humanitarian mission. They denounce the forced austerity measures in the Caribbean nation as a direct result of a policy of external aggression. These sanctions aim to paralyze several sectors essential to the country and thus affect the daily lives of Cuban families.

ANNOUNCING

The Nuestra América Flotilla. We are sailing to Cuba, bringing critical humanitarian aid for its people. Together, we can break the siege, save lives, and stand up for the cause of Cuban self-determination. Join us: https://nuestraamericaflotilla.org

While civil society mobilizes, some regional governments are already sending direct assistance to alleviate the current crisis. Mexico stands out with the delivery of hundreds of tons of food for the population. However, the complex geopolitical scenario requires keeping certain energy supply agreements confidential.

From the Kremlin, Russia is considering sending crude oil and refined products to alleviate the severe fuel shortage. This aid is critical after months without the arrival of oil tankers, a situation exacerbated by threats against commercial shipping companies. Havana is resisting in a context where international law is ignored by foreign powers.

Jeremy Corbyn

@jeremycorbyn

The US has declared Cuba an “unusual and extraordinary threat”, authorising new sanctions and tightening its illegal blockade. Trump is trying to starve Cuba into submission — and millions of people will suffer. This is economic warfare, plain and simple. Hands off Cuba!

UN experts Despite widespread rejection in the General Assembly, coercive measures have recently intensified. The “Nuestra América” ​​flotilla represents an act of dignity in the face of a siege condemned by the world.

Author: teleSUR: alr – JML