Expansion of U.S. Visa Restrictions for Individuals Exploiting Cuban Labor

On February 25 U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced an expansion of U.S. visa restriction policy for individuals exploiting Cuban labor.

This policy “targets forced labor linked to the Cuban labor export program. This expanded policy applies to current or former Cuban government officials, and other individuals, including foreign government officials, who are believed to be responsible for, or involved in, the Cuban labor export program, particularly Cuba’s overseas medical missions. This policy also applies to the immediate family of such persons.”

“Cuba’s labor export programs, which include the medical missions, enrich the Cuban regime, and in the case of Cuba’s overseas medical missions, deprive ordinary Cubans of the medical care they desperately need in their home country. The United States is committed to countering forced labor practices around the globe. To do so, we must promote accountability not just for Cuban officials responsible for these policies, but also those complicit in the exploitation and forced labor of Cuban workers.”

“According to official data, there are currently medical brigades in 59 countries, including Italy, Venezuela and Mexico. In the latter, there are more than 3,000 health workers on the island working under contracts between the two governments, while the Cuban health system is suffering a serious crisis that includes a shortage of medicines and supplies, as well as doctors.”

“In 2023, 70% of Cuba’s total exports were services, mainly professional services. 80% of that volume consisted of exports of doctors.

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U.S. State Department, Expansion of Visa Restrictions Policy for Individuals Exploiting Cuban Labor  (Feb. 25, 2025); US imposes new sanctions on foreign officials linked to the export of Cuban professionals, Diario de Cuba (Feb. 25, 2025).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Expert Prediction of Collapse of Cuban Electrical Energy System

“Jorge Piñón, a non-resident researcher at the University of Texas Energy Institute, predicted a new collapse of the electrical energy system in Cuba in the coming months.”

He said, “Cuba is in an extremely difficult situation right now, with the loss of 50% of the generation from its thermoelectric plants . It has no fuel to supply the Turkish barges in Havana Bay and Santiago de Cuba. It also has no diesel fuel for the generators.”

“The deterioration of the thermoelectric plants is very significant” and these plants “mainly consume Cuban crude oil , they themselves do not really depend on Russian, Mexican or Venezuelan oil.”

====================

Jorge Pinon: ‘We are going to see a collapse of the electrical energy system in the coming months, Diario de Cuba (Feb. 24, 2025).

 

U.S. General Charles Q. Brown, Jr. Terminated as Joint Chiefs Chairman Because of His June 2020 Comments About George Floyd Killing  

On February 21, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump terminated General Charles Q. Brown, an African-American man, as Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff without any presidential explanation of the reasons for this firing. [1]

Privately, however, some of Trump’s advisers said the termination occurred because of Brown’s four-minute video about the May 2020 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota only days thereafter. In those remarks Brown said the following:

“’I’m thinking about how full I am with, with emotion, not just for George Floyd, but the many African Americans that suffered the same fate as George Floyd,’ he said, a slight tremor underlying his voice.” ‘I’m thinking about protests in my country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, the equality expressed in our declaration of independence, in the Constitution, that I’ve sworn my adult life to support and defend.’”

“I am  ‘living in two worlds, both with their own perspectives and views.’ He described what those worlds were like for him. He and his sister were the only Black children at his elementary school, he said, and they tried to fit in. In their high school, half of the students were Black and they still tried to fit in.”

“’I’m thinking about my Air Force career, where I was often the only African American in my squadron, or, as a senior officer, the only African American in the room.’”

“’I’m thinking about wearing the same flight suit, with the same wings on my chest as my peers, and then being questioned by another military member, ‘are you a pilot.’”

“’I’m thinking about being a captain at the O Club with my squadron, and being told by other African Americans that I wasn’t Black enough, since I was spending more time with my squadron than with them.’”

“He spoke of how most of his mentors could not relate to his experience as a Black man. He spoke of wondering whether airmen who have not had similar experiences ‘don’t see racism as a problem because it doesn’t happen to them, or whether they’re empathetic.’”

After Mr. Trump became President this year on January 20, “General Brown insisted he would carry out the lawful orders of the president.”

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(1) Cooper, George Floyd Killing Separated Trump From His Generals, N.Y. Times (Feb. 22, 2025). This blog has published many posts about the killing of George Floyd and the subsequent criminal prosecutions of the four Minneapolis police officers who were so involved.

Cuban Population Loses More than 300,000 in 2024

Cuba’s  National Office of Statistics and Information has reported that Cuba’s population on December 31, 2024, was 9,748,532.

More thatn a quarter were 60 years or older.

New births were only 71,000, the lowest number in recent decades. This confirmed that women of childbearing age in Cuba are postponing or choosing not to become mothers.

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Cuba will lose more than 300,000 inhabitants in 2024, according to official figures, Diario de Cuba (Feb. 21, 2025).

 

Minneapolis Police Chief Defends Derek Chauvin’s Conviction For Murder of George Floyd     

Brian O’Hara, the Chief of the Minneapolis Police Department, declares in the StarTribune. “Millions of us watched in horror as Derek Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes, ignoring his cries for help, the pleas of bystanders and ultimately the absence of any movement from Floyd’s body. Police officers and even police union leadership around the country condemned Minneapolis for allowing this to happen and for causing us problems in cities around the world that summer. We all knew what we saw, and we all knew it was wrong.” Here are O’Hara’s other comments on this subject:[1]

  • “Chauvin’s actions were indefensible, and his choice to kneel on a handcuffed, unresponsive man’s neck for an extended period was not in line with any legitimate police training in the civilized world.”
  • “During Chauvin’s trial, multiple experts — including Blackwell and several otherMPD officers — testified that what he did was not taught or condoned by MPD. This wasn’t just opinion. It was a fact backed up by training records, other courageous officers’ testimony, and the public condemnation of Chauvin’s actions by dozens of his own colleagues. In the immediate aftermath of Floyd’s death, 14 MPD officers signed an open letter to the public explicitly stating that Chauvin’s actions ‘were not the values we were trained in’ and that his use of force was completely unjustified.”
  • “Now, nearly five years later, some are attempting to rewrite history by attacking Assistant Chief Katie Blackwell, a longtime Minneapolis police officer and one of the highest-ranking enlisted women in the Minnesota National Guard, for her testimony in Chauvin’s criminal trial. Alpha News and reporter Liz Collinhave accused Blackwell of lying when she stated that Chauvin’s actions were not part of the Minneapolis Police Department’s training. But let’s be clear: Chauvin’s actions were indefensible, and his choice to kneel on a handcuffed, unresponsive man’s neck for an extended period was not in line with any legitimate police training in the civilized world.”
  • These recent attacks on Blackwell’s testimony are prompted “to sow doubt about the legitimacy of Chauvin’s conviction and to undermine efforts to reform policing in Minneapolis.”
  • But “Chauvin was not a scapegoat — his actions betrayed the values of our noble profession. Blackwell, in her difficult role as a witness, simply did what any professional and any true leader would do: She told the truth. She testified to what every reasonable officer knows — that kneeling on the neck of a handcuffed, non-resistant suspect for more than nine minutes, to the point where he is lifeless, is not proper policing, nor is it a trained technique.”
  • “We must remain focused on what truly matters: building a police department of integrity, one that is able to self-correct. This starts with recognizing that Chauvin acted well outside the bounds of his training and his duty. It also means defending those, like Assistant Chief Blackwell, who courageously spoke out against misconduct rather than enabling those who would excuse it.”

The recent controversy over Chauvin’s conviction and the criminal trial testimony of Katy Blackwell have been discussed in another blog post and newspaper articles.[2]

============================

[1] O’Hara, The truth about the tragic actions of Derek Chauvin, StarTribune (Feb.11, 2025). This blog has an extensive number of posts about the trials and convictions of Chauvin and the other three Minneapolis policemen involved in the killing of Mr. Floyd. (List of Posts to dwkcommentaries—Topical: George Floyd Killing.)

[2] More Litigation About the George Floyd Killing, dwkcommentaries.com (Jan. 17, 2025); Day, High-ranking Minneapolis Police Department officer sues Liz Collin, Alpha News for defamation, StarTribune (Oct. 15, 2024); MPD Assistant Chief Katie Blackwell calls Alpha News ‘extremists in ‘garbage’ lawsuit. Alpha News (Oct. 15, 2024);Day, Defamation lawsuit against ‘The Fall of Minneapolis’ documentary faces high legal hurdles, StarTribune (Oct. 25, 2024); 14 current and former Minneapolis cops say Assistant Chief Katie Blackwell LIED during trial of Derek Chauvin, The Post Millennial, (Jan. 7, 2025); Over a dozen current and former officers say they believe MPD’s Katie Blackwell perjured herself during Derek Chauvin trial, Law Officer (Jan. 7, 2025); Day, Ex-MPD officers, politicians defend ‘ The Fall of Minneapolis,’ Liz Collin in defamation lawsuit, StarTribune (Jan. 7, 2025); Director of ‘The Fall of Minneapolis’ responds to defamation lawsuit after bombshell court filings, Alpha News (Jan. 8, 2025);Packed courtroom listens as Alpha News seeks dismissal of defamation lawsuit brought by Minneapolis police officer, StarTribune (Feb. 7, 2025); Gorkowski, Judge hears motion to dismiss defamation lawsuit against Alpha News, Liz Collin, Alpha News  (Feb. 8, 2025).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last Year, Almost 1,000 Acts Against Religious Freedom in Cuba

Accoding to the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights, last year at least 996 acts against religious freedom occurred in Cuba, which “reflects an unalterable scenario of violations of the religious rights of citizens, despite government propaganda.” [1]

“In Cuba, religious freedoms continue to be violated in their various forms. It is a mistake to judge the climate of exercise of these rights only from the perspective of Church-State relations. Even from that limited perspective, in 2024 it was evident that they were not going through their best moment if we take into account the regime’s indifference to the local Catholic Church’s demands for the release of political prisoners.”

“Both the legal and bureaucratic limitations against independent churches and the harassment against their members, have repercussions on the common citizen who sees in the Christian communities a helping hand in the midst of so much poverty, especially after the disasters caused by the hurricanes.”

“Among the most frequent violations documented by the OCDH are the prohibition of attendance at mass, fines for religious leaders of churches not recognized by the State, harassment of Christians with a civic commitment, and denial of religious assistance to political prisoners.”

“Particularly, independent Christian churches, which are not recognised by the government and cannot be recognised, have been harassed by State Security. Several of their leaders, especially those who carry out important social work, have been summoned, fined or threatened with more serious legal consequences and confiscations.”

“In Cuba there are more than 60 churches, ministries or Christian congregations without legal recognition, including “Viento Recio” (Las Tunas), “God shakes Cuba and the Nations,””Emmanuel” (Santiago de Cuba) and “Palabra de Fuego Bendición Sagrada” (Camagüey).”

“Religions remain under suspicion. The existence of the Communist Party’s Religious Affairs Office and special counterintelligence units to ‘deal’ with religious leaders and infiltrate and monitor their communities do not correspond to the proclaimed secular character of the State and even less with the purported image of religious tolerance.”

“The climate of legal restrictions and harassment, especially against independent religious movements, affects their social work, since they are denied legal status. This lack of state recognition poses practical problems, for example, in opening institutional bank accounts or hiring employees.”

“At the beginning of 2025, Miguel Díaz-Canel committed to the Holy See to release 553 prisoners under the Jubilee Year, but the process, which has lacked transparency and fair conditions, is on hold at the time of writing this statement.”

====================

[1] In 2024, almost 1,000 acts against religious freedom took place in Cuba, denounces the OCDH, Diario de Cuba (Jan. 31, 2025).

Issues Facing Marco Rubio on Trip  to Latin America 

On his trip to Latin America starting on February 1, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will be facing at least the following issues.

Panama.

“The Panama Canal will be the most important issue.”

“Mr. Trump falsely accused Panama of allowing China to station troops on the canal and of treating U.S. ships and goods unfairly by charging exorbitant fees. The Panama Canal Authority, which operates the waterway independently of the government, has denied those claims.”

“While there are no Chinese troops to be seen on the waterway, a Hong Kong-based company called CK Hutchison Holdings has operated two seaports at each end of the Panama Canal for decades.”

“Mr. Trump may not be serious about using the U.S. military to retake the canal, analysts say, instead staking out an extreme negotiating position in order to clinch another deal. He may be eyeing lower fees for American goods traversing the canal or greater cooperation on migration.”

“The other major issue Mr. Rubio and Panamanian leaders are likely to discuss is immigration and the Darién Gap, the perilous jungle route between Panama and Colombia that hundreds of thousands of migrants have used in recent years to make their way to the United States.”

“Panama has struggled to slow the flood of migrants traversing the gap, with more than 520,000 people passing through in 2023. That number declined to 302,000 in 2024. Last summer, Mr. Mulino signed an agreement with the Biden administration that tightened security in the gap. Around the same time, President Biden also blocked the vast majority of asylum claims at the U.S.-Mexico border and allowed agents to turn people back quickly.”

“Panama will likely ask the United States to invest more in Panama if it seeks to curb Chinese influence in the region. Panamanian politicians and business leaders complain that when the country puts out tenders for big infrastructure projects, U.S. companies are often absent while Chinese are eager to bid.””

“In exchange, Mr. Rubio could ask Panama to sign a safe-third country agreement, which would see it absorb non-Panamanian migrants. Analysts say Mr. Rubio could use the threats to retake the canal to pressure Panama to accept those asylum seekers or get them to to kick out CK Hutchison Holdings from those ports.”

Guatemala

“Guatemala has emerged as a country eager to show it is open to cooperating with the Trump administration, particularly when it comes to migration. The Guatemalan government was the first country to receive U.S. military flights carrying deportees, which have served to support Mr. Trump’s claim that migrants are criminals best dealt with by force.”

“Rather than speak out about deportations, the government launched the “Return Home” plan to reintegrate Guatemalan deportees.”

“For us, the most important thing is to present ourselves to the U.S., to the new administration, as a reliable and strategic partner in the region,” Guatemala’s foreign minister, Carlos Ramiro Martínez, said in an interview this past week.”

“About 675,000 undocumented Guatemalans lived in the United States as of 2022, according to the Pew Research Center, making it one of the largest sources of illegal migrants after Mexico, India and El Salvador.”

“Guatemala also shares a border with Mexico, and migrants from around the world trek through it on their journeys north. Mr. Rubio could call on the nation to do more to prevent migrants from reaching Mexico, analysts say.”

“When asked if Guatemala would host asylum seekers deported from the United States as part of a “safe third country” agreement, Mr. Ramiro said nothing was off the table ahead of the visit. “I’m not ruling anything out because the negotiation is still ongoing,” he said at a news conference this past week.”

“Also on the table will be countering illicit drug trafficking and organized crime, Mr. Ramiro said.”

“Guatemala’s president, Bernardo Arévalo, faces intense internal opposition and will most likely try to find an ally in Mr. Rubio, both to shore up his position at home and to protect the economy. The United States is Guatemala’s primary trading partner, accounting for more than 30 percent of the country’s exports, including coffee and bananas.”

El Salvador

 “Of all of the countries in the region that Mr. Rubio is planning to visit, El Salvador stands out for having already established a somewhat warm relationship with the Trump administration.”

“Within the inner circle of MAGA loyalists, Bukele has a lot of appeal,” Manuel Meléndez Sánchez, a Salvadoran political scientist at Harvard University, said of El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele.”

“The Salvadoran government’s recent crackdown on vicious gangs that terrorized the country has enthused traditional law-and-order Republicans. Mr. Bukele’s antiglobalist and what he calls “anti-woke” policies have captivated American conservatives. And his embrace of technology, including Bitcoin as an official currency, has won over tech billionaires, like Elon Musk.”

“In a phone call between the leaders last week, Mr. Trump praised Mr. Bukele’s leadership before discussing the two main issues Mr. Rubio is likely to resurface during his visit: illegal immigration and a crackdown on gangs.”

“A priority for the Trump administration is to get the country to take in non-Salvadoran deportees from the United States.”

“The country signed a similar deal in 2019 after Trump administration officials cut off some aid to El Salvador, accusing the country of not doing enough to curb illegal migration. But the agreement never took effect and was terminated by the Biden administration.”

“In a briefing call on Friday, Mauricio Claver-Carone, Mr. Trump’s special envoy for Latin America, told reporters that the United States was committed to efforts “to revive that agreement.”

“A spokeswoman for Mr. Bukele declined to comment.”

“During Mr. Rubio’s visit, Mr. Claver-Carone added, he will also try to persuade El Salvador to accept deported members of the notorious Tren de Aragua gang, a Venezuelan criminal group that has spread its reach into the United States.”

““If Caracas does not accept them, Bukele will receive them,” María Elvira Salazar, a Republican congresswoman, said this past week. “And Bukele’s prisons are very big.”

Costa Rica

“Mr. Rubio’s visit will most likely focus on American investment, migration policy and the continuing fight against international drug trafficking, according to Costa Rican authorities.”

“President Rodrigo Chaves anticipates a more transactional relationship with Mr. Trump.”

“It is going to be about international trade issues, capital flows, and investment,” he told reporters last week.”

“Mr. Trump’s criticisms of the Biden administration’s CHIPS and Science Act — and his overall stance against American companies investing overseas — have been received nervously in Costa Rica, a hub of semiconductor manufacturing. The Biden-era program was meant to reduce the United States’ reliance on China for microchip production by encouraging neighboring countries to enter the industry.”

“Beyond trying to maintain U.S. investments, Costa Rica will portray itself as a crucial ally in the war against drugs during negotiations with Mr. Rubio. Costa Rica has become a major transshipment point for cocaine destined for the United States, contributing to the country’s record-high murder rate since 2022.”

“Arnoldo André, Costa Rica’s minister of foreign affairs, described the joint fight against organized crime and drug trafficking as “issues that we are sure we will be able to reconcile with the new U.S. authorities.”

“If Mr. Trump wants Costa Rica to continue to clamp down on drug trafficking, economic investments must be maintained, current and former government officials say. Or poverty may make the country ripe for the cartels that run amok in the region.”

Dominican Republic

 “During his Senate confirmation hearings, Mr. Rubio mentioned the Dominican Republic as one of the countries in Latin America that was “doing it the right way.”

“By that, Mr. Rubio may mean the Trump way. The Caribbean country is building a wall along its border with Haiti, and the government has pledged to deport 10,000 Haitians a week — a move human rights groups have criticized as rife with abuses.”

“The Dominican Republic, a country of 11 million, shares an island with Haiti, a nation that has descended into chaos since the assassination in July 2021 of its last elected president, Jovenel Moïse. Gangs earning income from illegal checkpoints, extortion and kidnappings have used the political vacuum to expand their territory to control some 90 percent of the Haitian capital.”

“Some one million Haitians have fled their homes, according to the International Organization for Migration, many crossing the porous border into the Dominican Republic.”

“Riding a wave of nationalism, President Luis Abinader was re-elected last May in a landslide, bolstered by anti-Haitian sentiments that run rampant among the population, while pledging stricter immigration policies.”

“The Dominican Republic has also emerged as a key security partner for Washington, cracking down on drugs and gun smuggling routes that fuel violence across the region. The Trump administration wants more cooperation there.”

======================

Abi-Habib, Correal, Mega, Wagner & Bolanos, Latin America Gets Into Deal-Making Mode for Rubio’s Visit, N.Y. Times (Feb. 1, 2025).

 

 

 

 

Marco Rubio Proposes  America First Foreign Policy

In the Wall Street Journal, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has proposed what he calls an “Americas First  Foreign Policy.” [1]

“When Donald Trump won his sweeping victory in November, he received a mandate to put America first. In the realm of diplomacy, this means paying closer attention to our own neighborhood—the Western Hemisphere.”

“It’s no accident that my first trip abroad as secretary of state, to Central America on Friday, will keep me in the hemisphere. This is rare among secretaries of state over the past century. For many reasons, U.S. foreign policy has long focused on other regions while overlooking our own. As a result, we’ve let problems fester, missed opportunities and neglected partners. That ends now.”

“President Trump’s foreign-policy agenda begins close to home. Among his top priorities is securing our borders and reversing the disastrous invasion abetted by the last administration. Diplomacy’s role in this effort is central. We need to work with countries of origin to halt and deter further migrant flows, and to accept the return of their citizens present in the U.S. illegally.”

“Some countries are cooperating with us enthusiastically—others, less so. The former will be rewarded. As for the latter, Mr. Trump has already shown that he is more than willing to use America’s considerable leverage to protect our interests. Just ask Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro.”

“Yet even when circumstances demand toughness, the president’s vision for the hemisphere remains positive. We see a prosperous region rife with opportunities. We can strengthen trade ties, create partnerships to control migration, and enhance our hemisphere’s security.”

“El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama and the Dominican Republic—the countries I will visit on this trip—all stand to benefit tremendously from greater cooperation with the U.S. These nations were neglected by past administrations that prioritized the global over the local and pursued policies that accelerated China’s economic development, often at our neighbors’ expense.”

“We can reverse this. Covid exposed the fragility of America’s dependence on far-flung supply chains. Relocating our critical supply chains to the Western Hemisphere would clear a path for our neighbors’ economic growth and safeguard Americans’ own economic security.”

“Closer relationships with the U.S. lead to more jobs and higher growth in these countries. This reduces incentives for emigration from these countries while providing governments with revenue to fight crime and invest at home. As our regional partners build themselves up, they can more easily resist countries such as China that promise much but deliver little.”

“Mass migration has destabilized our entire region. Drug cartels—now correctly categorized, thanks to the president, as foreign terrorist organizations—are taking over our communities, sowing violence and poisoning our families with fentanyl. Illegitimate regimes in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela are intentionally amplifying the chaos. All the while, the Chinese Communist Party uses diplomatic and economic leverage—such as at the Panama Canal—to oppose the U.S. and turn sovereign nations into vassal states.”

I am confident that the countries I will soon visit will be ready partners. Like President Trump, their leaders are pragmatists who put their citizens first. And because they are pragmatists, they also know that there is much more to be gained from working with the U.S. than not.

“This is an approach to foreign policy based on concrete shared interests, not vague platitudes or utopian ideologies. It is representative of the approach the State Department will be taking to all its international dealings. We will extend our hand to all nations of goodwill, in the confident expectation that they will recognize what we can do together.”

“Thankfully, the Western Hemisphere harbors more congruent interests than conflicting ones. Making America great again also means helping our neighbors achieve greatness. The threats Mr. Trump was elected to stop are threats to the nations of our hemisphere as well.”

“We share a common home. The safer, stronger and more prosperous that home becomes, the more all our nations stand to benefit. Together, there are few limits to what we can accomplish.”

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[1] Rubio, An Americas First Foreign Policy, W.S.J. (Jan. 30, 2025)

 

 

Marco Rubio Announces Renewal of Sanctions Against Companies Linked to Cuban Security and Military Services  

On January 31, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the restoration of sanctions against companies linked to Cuba’s security and military services.[1]

After noting President Trump’s restoring Cuba on the list of state sponsors of terrorism, Rubio noted the following actions he has taken about Cuba.

“In a January 29 letter to the appropriate Congressional committees, I withdrew the prior administration’s letter regarding the LIBERTAD Act. The Trump Administration is committed to U.S. persons having the ability to bring private rights of action involving trafficked property confiscated by the Cuban regime.”

“On January 31, I approved the re-creation of the Cuba Restricted List, which prohibits certain transactions with companies under the control of, or acting for or on behalf of, the repressive Cuban military, intelligence, or security services or personnel.  The State Department is re-issuing the Cuba Restricted List to deny resources to the very branches of the Cuban regime that directly oppress and surveil the Cuban people while controlling large swaths of the country’s economy.  In addition to restoring the entities that were on the list until the final week of the previous administration, we are adding Orbit, S.A., a remittance-processing company operating for or on behalf of the Cuban military.”

“The State Department promotes accountability for the Cuban regime for oppressing its people and rejects Cuba’s malign interference across the Americas and throughout the world.  We support the Cuban people’s human rights and fundamental freedoms and demand the release of all unjustly detained political prisoners.  Our Embassy in Havana is meeting with families of those unjustly detained, as well as dissidents, so that they know the United States wholeheartedly supports them. We are steadfast in our commitment to the Cuban people and promote accountability for the Cuban regime’s actions.”

After this announcement, Cuban economist Emilio Morales said that the inclusion of Orbit on the U.S. blacklist and the ban on money transfers from the U.S. puts Cuba  “back to where Trump left it [at the end of his prior administration] no company in the United States can send remittances to Cuba.”

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[1] Rubio, Restoring a Tough U.S.-Cuba Policy, Dept of State (Jan. 31, 2025); Marco Rubio resumes his ‘hardline policy’ against Havana: sanctions against companies under military control are back, Diario de Cuba (Feb. 1. 20250.

 

The Six Principles of Stupidity  

That is the title of a fascinating column by David Brooks.[1]Here is what he said.

Preamble

“This was the week in which the Chinese made incredible gains in artificial intelligence and the Americans made incredible gains in human stupidity. I’m sorry, but I look at the Trump administration’s behavior over the last week and the only word that accurately describes it is: stupid.”

“I am not saying the members of the Trump administration are not intelligent. We all know high-I.Q. people who behave in a way that’s as dumb as rocks. I don’t believe that there are stupid people, just stupid behaviors. As the Italian historian Carlo Cipolla once put it, “The probability that a certain person be stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person.”

“And I am certainly not saying Donald Trump’s supporters are less intelligent than others. I’ve learned over the years that many upscale Democrats detest intellectual diversity. When they have power over a system — whether it’s academia, the mainstream media, the nonprofits or the Civil Service — they tend to impose a stifling orthodoxy that makes everybody within it duller, more conformist and insular. If Republicans want to upend that, I say: Go for it.”

“I define stupidity as behaving in a way that ignores the question: What would happen next? If somebody comes up to you and says, “I think I’m going to take a hike in a lightning storm with a copper antenna on my head,” stupidity replies, “That sounds like a really great idea!” Stupidity is the tendency to take actions that hurt you and the people around you.”

“The administration produced volleys of stupidity this week. It renewed threats to impose ruinous tariffs on Canada and Mexico that would drive up inflation in America. It attempted a broad and general purge of the federal work force, apparently without asking how that purge would affect government operations. But I’d like to focus on one other episode: the attempt to freeze federal spending on assistance programs, and Trump’s subsequent decision to reverse course and undo the freeze.”

“When announcing the freeze, the administration stated its clear goal — to defund things like the diversity, equity and inclusion programs that Trump disapproves of. A prudent administration would have picked the programs it opposed and focused on cutting those, through a well-established process known as rescission authority. But the Trump administration decided to impose a vague, half-baked freeze on what it claimed amounted to more than $3 trillion in federal spending. Suddenly, patients in cancer trials at the National Institutes of Health didn’t know if they could continue their treatments, Head Start administrators didn’t know if they could draw federal funds, cities and states across America didn’t know if they would have money for police forces, schools, nutrition programs, highway repair and other basic services.”

“This Trump policy was like trying to cure acne with decapitation. Nobody seems to have asked the question: If we freeze all grant spending, what will happen next? Once the ramifications of that stupidity became obvious, Trump reversed course. And this is my big prediction for this administration: It will churn out a steady stream of stupid policies, and when the consequences of those policies begin to hit Trump’s approval rating, he will flip-flop, diminish or abandon those policies. He loves popularity more than any idea.”

The Six Principles

“But it is still true that we’re going to have to learn a lot about stupidity over the next four years. I’ve distilled what I’ve learned so far into six main principles:”

“Principle 1: Ideology produces disagreement, but stupidity produces befuddlement. This week, people in institutions across America spent a couple of days trying to figure out what the hell was going on. This is what happens when a government freezes roughly $3 trillion in spending with a two-page memo that reads like it was written by an intern. When stupidity is in control, the literature professor Patrick Moreau argues, words become unscrewed “from their relation to reality.”

“Principle 2: Stupidity often inheres in organizations, not individuals. When you create an organization in which one man has all the power and everybody else has to flatter his preconceptions, then stupidity will surely result. As the German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it: “This is virtually a sociological-psychological law. The power of the one needs the stupidity of the other.”

 “Principle 3: People who behave stupidly are more dangerous than people who behave maliciously. Evil people at least have some accurate sense of their own self-interest, which might restrain them. Stupidity dares greatly! Stupidity already has all the answers!”

“Principle 4: People who behave stupidly are unaware of the stupidity of their actions. You may have heard of the Dunning-Kruger effect, which is that incompetent people don’t have the skills to recognize their own incompetence. Let’s introduce the Hegseth-Gabbard corollary: The Trump administration is attempting to remove civil servants who may or may not be progressive but who have tremendous knowledge in their field of expertise and hire MAGA loyalists who often lack domain knowledge or expertise. The results may not be what the MAGA folks hoped for.”

“ Principle 5: Stupidity is nearly impossible to oppose. Bonhoeffer notes, “Against stupidity we are defenseless.” Because stupid actions do not make sense, they invariably come as a surprise. Reasonable arguments fall on deaf ears. Counter-evidence is brushed aside. Facts are deemed irrelevant. Bonhoeffer continues, “In all this the stupid person, in contrast to the malicious one, is utterly self-satisfied and, being easily irritated, becomes dangerous by going on the attack.”

“Principle 6: The opposite of stupidity is not intelligence, it’s rationality. The psychologist Keith Stanovich defines rationality as the capacity to make decisions that help people achieve their objectives. People in the grip of the populist mind-set tend to be contemptuous of experience, prudence and expertise, helpful components of rationality. It turns out that this can make some populists willing to believe anything — conspiracy theories, folk tales and internet legends; that vaccines are harmful to children. They don’t live within a structured body of thought but within a rave party chaos of prejudices.”

  Conclusion

 Brooks concludes, “As time has gone by, I’ve developed more and more sympathy for the goals the populists are trying to achieve. America’s leadership class has spent the last few generations excluding, ignoring, rejecting and insulting a large swath of this country. It’s terrible to be assaulted in this way. It’s worse when you finally seize power and start assaulting yourself — and everyone around you. In fact, it’s stupid.”

This blogger endorses the need for rationality in U.S. politics and life today: “the capacity to make decisions that help people achieve their objectives.” This involves “experience, prudence and expertise.”

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[1] Brooks. The Six Principles of Stupidity, N.Y. Times (Jan. 30, 2025).