BERLIN/WASHINGTON/HAVANA (our own report) – The German government is ignoring the United States’ ongoing total blockade of Cuba along with further efforts by the Trump administration to subjugate the whole of Latin America. Bonn says it is seeking “transatlantic common ground”. An international solidarity flotilla arrived in Havana at the weekend and Spain, an EU member state, is sending more aid supplies to the Caribbean nation. Germany, on the other hand, remains silent and says it hopes for “partnership” with the US. Meanwhile, Trump is demanding the overthrow of Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and boasts that he will soon be able to rule the country as he chooses. A US blockade of the island has, of course, been in place for over six decades and has long damaged its development. But the current fuel blockade has escalated the hardship by creating dramatic supply shortages. On Cuba, Trump has actually said that, “I think I can do whatever I want with it.” As regards the wider strategy for Latin America, Washington has founded a new regional military alliance, the Shield of the Americas, which comprises only far-right governments. It is ostensibly directed against drug cartels but the agenda is to curb China’s influence. In Colombia and Brazil, two countries that are not run by “Trumpistas”, the US has been interfering in upcoming elections – in each case promoting far-right candidates. Read more