Venezuela, Iran, Cuba prove out unspoken understanding of American arrogance, imperialism
Since the Cold War, there has been a peculiar belief that pervading American foreign policy. Against all reasonable applications of common sense, the United States, her government, and unfortunately her people have somehow decided that they are justified in acting as some grand, global force of discipline–as though she is justified by her wealth and military might to do just about whatever to whoever she pleases. This myopic and xenophobic sense of entitlement has created a gross history of immoral foreign policy dating back to the horrific Hawaiian conquest of the 1890s.
Trump and his Republican lackeys pushed the envelope of imperialism even further last January, when the administration kidnapped the president of Venezuela and his wife. who are still being held in federal custody under “drug-related charges.” This belief in “American Exceptionalism,” a uniquely arrogant feature of political expediency, would never apply were the situation reversed. By that logic, Venezuela could claim the right to capture President Trump and Secretary Hegseth under charges of murder or kidnapping, and if that were to happen, the world would go into a frenzy and a global war would immediately be started. America’s ceaseless meddling at the expense of others, time and time again, has proven to lead to disastrous consequences in basically all nations unfortunate enough to be victimized by her.
At the moment, one of the more tragic outcomes of her abuses is being seen most prominently in Cuba, a longtime victim of American bullying. In Cuba, there exists an energy crisis of such terrible scale, that many large parts of the country are routinely without electricity, fuel, or basic necessities. While the Caribbean nation fails to produce enough oil to support itself, its shortage is mostly exacerbated by American intervention. America has maintained a trade embargo with Cuba since the 1960s, barring its citizens and companies from engaging in commerce that serves Cuban interests. While “Lady Liberty” has no duty or obligation to trade with any country, an embargo is a serious economic measure that otherwise has been reserved for much more capable and powerful countries like North Korea or Russian-controlled Ukraine. Following this year’s intervention in Venezuela, the Trump regime issued an executive order that would essentially create a total blockade of fuel and petroleum products on Cuba, threatening (with overwhelming tariffs) any countries that dare support the island nation. Plain as day, this escalates an already terrible history of abuse.
It should be noted that harassment and mistreatment of Cuba is not unique to this administration. The Cuban people have suffered throughout both Republican and Democrat presidencies (as a matter of fact, it was Bill Clinton who codified the embargo into US law with the Helms-Burton Act.) Too often, it becomes convenient to attribute all of America’s problems to one particular party. However, when it comes to US imperialism, both parties share much of the responsibility. Democratic presidents still participate in regime change, and Democratic presidents have still happily presided over one of the most economically crippling embargos in human history. It is for this same reason why so few Democrats chose to speak out against Trump’s capture of Maduro, and why none have tried to launch any movement to stop the aforementioned embargo.
Cuba, which is still recovering from a hurricane last October, is being hit with rolling blackouts. Fuel scarcity has led to run-down infrastructure and food shortages, both of which have devastated the Cuban economy. Due to a lack of airline fuel, Cuba’s main source of income–tourism–has suffered greatly. More importantly, the Cuban people are suffering. When energy shortages like this occur, patients can’t get treatment, stores can’t restock, and people go hungry. Under this strain, Cuba’s many social services, including free healthcare and education, are put at risk. America has had a history of economically bullying socialist countries since the Cold War, which time and time again has torn at the fabric of their social services and degraded their people’s quality of life and faith in the socialist government. Needless to say, that’s clearly still America’s motive. The Trump regime has gotten so extremely comfortable with this phrase, “regime change,” that they seem to have forgotten–or disregarded–the basic fact that it’s against international law. America has always shown that it doesn’t care about international law, and that it’s more than happy to use force to get what it wants. The current administration just doesn’t care for the niceties of cloaking their language or intent.
For some reason, few have questioned this belief that America is to be entirely unchecked in its authority over other nations. America gets to act as some sort of sheriff, capturing (or, as seen in recent action in Iran, killing) leaders and economically crippling entire nations. Meanwhile, if another country (say, Russia) were to exert a similar authority over its neighbors, it would absolutely be condemned globally as a horrific act of geopolitical bullying. The United Nations has voted in favor of condemning America’s abusive embargo for 33 years straight, obviously leading to no observable outcome. Infuriatingly so, America has simply assumed itself to be above the orders and values of the UN. The plight of America’s neighbors is being illustrated more and more clearly: trying to coexist with a country that views itself in such a supreme, self-important way is like trying to play a game with a toddler who chooses not to follow the game’s rules. America has, in pursuit of its own goals, become that tyrannical toddler, immaturely assuming that it has the inherent right to torment and bully anyone it may disagree with, disregarding the moral rules and values of just, modern-day geopolitics.
by Veronica Holladay
Published March 20, 2026
Oshkosh West Index Volume 122 Issue VI