Published on: Thu, 29 Oct 2026 20:38:58 GMT
Original Story: Cuba’s Foreign Minister: We’ll Outlast Trump – The New York Times

Cuba’s Official Eye-Roll: “Oh, Him Again?”

Alright, settle in, folks, because we’ve got a real shocker this week: a country with a long, complicated history of dealing with the United States is apparently confident in its ability to… continue existing. I know, I know, try to contain your utter astonishment. According to The New York Times, Cuba’s Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, has made the rather bold, yet entirely unsurprising, declaration that his nation will “outlast Trump.” Call me jaded, but this isn’t exactly breaking news from the front lines of geopolitics; it’s more like a weary sigh from a neighbor who’s seen the same dog pee on their lawn for the fifth time this year. “Yes, Rover, we know you’re still here. We’ll still be here after you’ve moved on to the great fire hydrant in the sky.”

It’s almost quaint, isn’t it? This idea that a single American presidential term, even one as… *eventful* as a Trump presidency, is some kind of existential threat to a nation that has, for all intents and purposes, been under some form of U.S. economic pressure or outright hostility since before most of us were even a twinkle in our parents’ weary eyes. Cuba has been playing the long game since before “long game” was a buzzword in Silicon Valley. They’ve seen presidents come and go like bad trends in artisanal toast. So, yeah, the current guy? Just another Tuesday, apparently.

The Island’s Unofficial Official Motto: “This Too Shall Pass”

Let’s be brutally honest: Cuba has had a front-row seat to the American political circus for decades. They’ve watched administrations swing from outright invasion attempts (Bay of Pigs, anyone?) to clandestine operations, from embargoes tighter than my jeans after Thanksgiving to brief, tantalizing thaws. Through it all, the Cuban government, for better or worse, has remained. It’s like they’ve got a giant, faded tapestry in some dusty government building, each thread representing a U.S. president, and they just keep adding new ones, shrugging, and saying, “Another one for the collection.”

Since Fidel Castro took power in 1959, Cuba has dealt with ten different U.S. presidents. Ten! That’s Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton, Bush Jr., Obama, and then Trump. And if Trump wins again, well, that’s just another chapter in a very long, very repetitive book. From the Cuban perspective, American foreign policy towards the island often feels less like a coherent strategy and more like a series of emotional reactions, heavily influenced by domestic political winds, particularly those blowing from South Florida. It’s a predictable cycle, really: new president, new rhetoric, same old song and dance, just with a slightly different tempo.

A Brief, Exhausting History of US-Cuba Whiplash

Remember the heady days of the Obama administration? The handshakes, the embassy reopening, the direct flights, the sudden influx of American tourists eager to see Cuba “before it changes”? It was a brief, shining moment of what looked suspiciously like… diplomacy. After decades of the Cold War-era embargo, which, let’s be frank, achieved little beyond entrenching the Cuban regime and making life harder for ordinary Cubans, Obama’s approach felt like a breath of fresh air. Or, at least, a slightly less stale one. It was a pragmatic recognition that 50-plus years of isolation hadn’t exactly brought about the desired regime change. Instead, it had just created a convenient scapegoat for Cuba’s internal economic woes.

But then, as is tradition, the pendulum swung. Hard. And fast. Because in American politics, nothing good, or at least nothing *different*, can ever last. Especially when there are votes to be won in key swing states.

Trump’s Cuba Policy: A Masterclass in Policy-on-the-Fly

And here we arrive at the crux of the matter, the very heart of why Cuba’s Foreign Minister can afford to be so blasé. Donald Trump’s approach to Cuba has been, shall we say, *flexible*. Or, if we’re being less charitable and more accurate, entirely dictated by political expediency. It’s a classic case of saying one thing when it suits you, then doing the exact opposite when a different audience is listening. A true masterclass in political contortionism.

Let’s rewind to the halcyon days of the 2016 campaign. Donald Trump, ever the pragmatist (or at least, the self-proclaimed dealmaker), wasn’t always the staunch anti-Castro hardliner he later became. In fact, in a rather revealing interview in *2015* with The Daily Caller, when asked about Obama’s Cuba deal, he stated, “I think it’s fine. I think it’s good. I think we should have negotiated a better deal. I would have made a strong deal.” He even went on to muse about Cuba’s potential as a business partner. At other points during the campaign, he questioned the efficacy of the embargo, at one point even calling it “ridiculous.” Imagine that! The future architect of a renewed hardline stance actually sounded, for a brief, terrifying moment, like he might have been open to engagement, just a “better deal.”

The Art of the Deal (Except When It’s Not Convenient)

But then, Florida happened. The electoral map happened. The vocal and influential Cuban-American lobby in Florida happened. And suddenly, the “fine” deal became a “terrible” deal, the embargo became a sacred cow, and all talk of “better deals” with the Cuban government went out the window, replaced by fiery rhetoric about supporting dissidents and crushing communism. From 2017 onwards, the Trump administration systematically dismantled Obama’s normalization efforts: reinstating travel restrictions, closing the U.S. consulate in Havana, banning remittances, and even adding Cuba back to the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism. It was a complete 180, a policy shift so abrupt it could give you whiplash, all predicated on what appeared to be raw political calculation rather than a fundamental re-evaluation of long-term U.S. interests or Cuban realities.

So, when Cuba’s Foreign Minister says they’ll outlast Trump, it’s not just bravado; it’s an observation born from experience. They’ve watched this particular playbook before. They’ve seen the U.S. swing wildly from engagement to antagonism, often for reasons that have more to do with American domestic politics than anything happening on the island itself. It reinforces their long-held belief that U.S. policy is unreliable, subject to the whims of electoral cycles, and ultimately, something to be endured rather than engaged with consistently.

Why Cuba Doesn’t Sweat the Small Stuff (Like American Elections)

For Cuba, the current political climate in the U.S. is just another chapter in a very long, very predictable book. They’ve adapted to economic strangulation for decades, finding alternative trading partners, developing ingenious (and often desperate) workarounds for shortages, and generally operating under the assumption that the U.S. will always be, at best, an unpredictable neighbor, and at worst, an actively hostile one. Their survival strategy isn’t based on who sits in the Oval Office this year or next; it’s based on internal resilience (or stubbornness, depending on your perspective) and a willingness to play the geopolitical long game.

The Cuban government has perfected the art of blaming external forces for internal problems, a narrative that conveniently absolves them of responsibility for their own economic mismanagement and lack of political freedoms. The U.S. embargo, while genuinely harmful to the Cuban people, also serves as a potent propaganda tool for the regime. Every new sanction, every renewed travel ban, simply reinforces their narrative of a besieged nation standing firm against Yankee imperialism. It’s a cynical dance, but one that both sides, in their own ways, have come to rely on.

Snarky Takeaway

So, Cuba’s Foreign Minister is confident they’ll outlast Trump? Well, duh. It’s less a prophecy and more a statement of historical fact. They’ve outlasted every U.S. president since Eisenhower. The only real question isn’t whether Cuba will still be there; it’s whether the U.S. will ever get tired of repeating the same failed foreign policy experiments. My money’s on “probably not.” Because why learn from history when you can just keep re-enacting it with slightly different props? It’s far more entertaining, if you’re into that kind of tragicomic political theater. For the rest of us, it’s just another Tuesday.