The Latin American Report # 693

This AP wire report details how much Cuba's tourism industry activity levels have diminished. We are talking about a key, critical engine of the Island's economy, which has been unable to return to the figures it enjoyed during the brief thaw in relations with the United States (2015-2016), and which reached their peak, by inertia, in Trump's first administration. The maximum pressure policy inaugurated by the latter in 2019 had a notable impact on the sector. For example, it has even affected the decision-making of European tourists, who now evaluate whether it is worth traveling to Cuba—an alleged State Sponsor of Terrorism—and losing the benefits of the ESTA program.

And, also largely "thanks" to the first Trump administration but also to COVID and internal big mistakes, a process of comprehensive impoverishment of life in Cuba has been unleashed, which in terms of infrastructure is very damaging when configuring an attractive offer for tourism. Thus, for every ten tourists who visited Cuba in 2018, only three do so today, AP reports. "We're waiting for them to come, we're waiting for work," says the driver of a bubblegum pink 1957 convertible Ford Fairlane to the American agency in Havana. At the same time, it was confirmed yesterday that Mexico has suspended oil shipments to the Island, at least for now, in apparent capitulation to strong pressures from Washington and opposition sectors. In truth, President Claudia Sheinbaum neither confirmed nor denied when askedto comment on the issue, which emerged after a Bloomberg publication.

The MORENA leader had stood firm until now, but Reuters had already hinted at this possibility in a wire report last Saturday, detailing the concerns within the Sheinbaum administration regarding very near and sensitive negotiation processes with Washington. Given that Venezuela is not sending a drop of oil, the supply line from Mexico, which was far lower in quantity compared to that from Caracas, had become extremely strategic. This article in El Nuevo Herald is part of a narrative that I think is being retransmitted very insistently in Mexico City. Finally, Trump's persistent and intentional statements about Cuba, speaking of its political regime as something that is rapidly fading, fueled the overloaded anti-imperialist tone of a march that is always held in Havana on the eve of January 28th, the date of the birth of Cuba's National Hero, José Martí.

Venezuela

The United States is preparing for the potential reopening of its embassy in Caracas, according to AP. So, whatever the type of relationship the Trump administration has with Delcy Rodríguez, "favorable" things for the country are materializing after the seizure of Nicolás Maduro. For example, the acting president spoke yesterday about the country potentially regaining control of important assets abroad that have been frozen since the past decade, while Reuters reports that the Treasury Department is working on a general license to remove the obstacles imposed almost six years ago, by itself, on businesses operating or seeking to operate in the Venezuelan oil market.

Honduras

We will be following this development 👇 closely

This is all for today’s report.