US Seizes Oil Tankers, Feigns Surprise at Economic 'Aftershocks' in Cuba
The Independent worries about a "battered Cuba" as U.S. seizures of Venezuelan oil tankers surge. Conveniently, they gloss over the 60-year-plus U.S. economic blockade that has done the primary battering. The article frames these seizures as a natural disaster, an 'aftershock' Cuba must endure, rather than a deliberate act of economic warfare designed to strangle the island's access to vital
resources. It's a classic case of punch-then-pity journalism – inflict the wound, then mourn the bleeding. This isn't an 'aftershock'; it's a calculated, continuous pressure campaign. The U.S. government, through the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, systemically targets any entity providing Cuba with essential goods or services, including oil. The 'aftershock' narrative
attempts to distance the U.S. from the direct consequences of its own policy, making it appear as if Cuba's struggles are somehow organic, rather than the intended outcome of a sustained, punishing blockade.