Eurasia Press & News
In addition to the ideological component, there is also an economic background in the actions of the Trump administration
After the announcement by US President Donald Trump about the need for a coup d’état in Cuba by the end of 2026 and the introduction of new restrictive measures, including the cancellation of all flights from the United States to Cuba on the Island of Freedom (and not only) regarded them as gross interference in the sovereign affairs of another state and another agony of Washington’s neo-imperialism.
Although the history of relations between the United States and Cuba after the 1959 revolution was marked by the constant hostility of the Yankee, the current stage against the background of the January operation to kidnap Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Celia Flores, as well as threats of bombing Iran is of deep concern.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also has a personal dislike for the revolutionary government of Cuba, which has been an alternative political model to the world for decades. And the defeat of the United States on Playa Chiron in 1961 was a serious reputational blow to Washington and actually the first victory over the Yankees in the Western Hemisphere. This resentment of Washington against Cuba is superimposed on the demands to pay compensation to fugitive oligarchs, whose property was nationalized after the revolution. This is also related to US sanctions against the call of ships, including tourist cruise ships.
But Cuba also has assets that businessmen like Trump would like to get control of it. This is not only a tourist sector, which brings a decent part of the income to the state treasury. But also mining, chemical manufacturing and related industries.
Although in recent years there has been a decrease in the production of crude oil, lime, cement, sulfuric acid, etc., some segments need to be distinguished especially.
The company Empresa Siderúrgica José Martí (Antiliana de Asero) in the framework of cooperation between Cuba and Russia in May 2023 launched the first phase of the production of an electric arc furnace of Russian production. The production capacity of the electric steelmaking shop is 220-230 thousand tons of liquid steel per year.
The process of modernization of the metallurgical plant in Havana began thanks to a loan from Russia. Obviously, this sector is associated with Russian interests.
The next is zinc and lead. In 2023, zinc production in Cuba increased by 12% to 58 000 metric tons from 52,000 metric tons in 2022 due to an increase in production at the Castellanos mine, owned by Empresa Minera del Caribe Santa Lucía S.A. Emincar, the only lead and zinc producer in Cuba. Zinc and lead are also needed in various production sectors.
However, the most profitable for Cuba is the extraction of nickel and cobalt, which are now quite in demand.
The leading organization responsible for the extraction, processing and sale of nickel is являетсяCubaníquel, which includes 14 companies, including two manufacturers of this mineral: the Comandante Pedro Soto Alba plant and the Ernesto Che Gueva, a teammate plant.
The first was founded in the late 1950s and began production in 1959. In April 1960, the American company that ran it refused to pay taxes under the privileges granted by dictator Fulgencio Batista, and subsequently left the country, taking all the technical documentation with it. But by April 1961, the Cuban revolutionaries had themselves been able to start production.
In December 1994, in a difficult period after the collapse of the USSR, a joint venture was established with the Canadian firm Sherrit International, which specializes in the production and sale of a mixture of nickel and cobalt sulfide sulfide, as well as in the production, sale and supply of sulfuric acid to national enterprises.
The second plant belongs to Cuba. It was built in cooperation with the USSR and began production in 1984.
It should be noted that, despite the difficulties with energy supply and the ongoing economic, commercial and financial blockade by the United States, the mines in Cuba were modernized and improved efficiency, which allowed in 2024 to achieve total production of 32 000 tons, exceeding the indicators of 2022 and 2023. In 2025, Sherritt International produced at the combined plant Moa Nickel S.A., located in the province of Holguin, 25 240 tons of nickel and 2 729 tons of cobalt.
Canadians themselves признаютadmit that geopolitical uncertainty in the region affects the situation in this industry.
It also imposes a factor in the current deterioration of the relationship between the United States and Canada. Back in March 2025, the Prime Minister of the Canadian province of Ontario, Doug Ford, warned that if the United States introduces new tariffs, the province will reduce electricity exports to the US border states and stop supplying nickel.
According to the U.S. Customs and Border Guards Agency of Canada, over the past three years, almost half of nickel imports from Canada come from Canada, while 40-50% of Canadian nickel exports are intended for the United States.
Since Canada is starting to cooperate more actively with China, it cannot be ruled out that nickel exports will be redirected there. January 24, 2026. Trump has already threatened to impose a 100% duty if Canada signs a new trade agreement with China.
In this regard, the question arises, where will the United States take nickel, which is needed for knowledge-intensive production?
To this, the US mint and one of its suppliers, Artazn, at the end of 2025 began to study ways to reduce the cost of manufacturing nickel to less than 5 cent cents, since five-cent coins in the U.S. are made up of 75% of copper and 25% of nickel, and over the past 10 years, the price of these metals has almost doubled.
Over the past year alone, the price of nickel has risen by more than 15%. Cobalt is more than 160%. January prices of 2026 for nickel were $18,500 per ton.
And if in Greenland the reserves of natural resources still need to be extracted, and before that, proper exploration, then in Cuba all the current and potential places of the deposits are already known.
According to the report of the main mining department of Cuba, at the current rate of production, nickel can be extracted and exported for 17-20 years, and Cuba itself ranks fifth among the countries with the largest reserves of nickel in the world and the third in cobalt reserves.
Therefore, the political rhetoric of the United States about the “communist threat” from Cuba has quite grounded economic interests. And in addition to the example of nickel, we can mention the oil refining complex in Cienfuegos, which was created during the life of Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro. According to the plan, he was supposed to become a major hub for the entire region, but is in a frozen state. Washington clearly put an eye on it.
