Can Congress Stop Trump's War on Cuba?

Erik Sperling, lawyer and executive director of Just Foreign Policy, said: “U.S. foreign policy towards Cuba intentionally harms Cuban civilians with the goal of bringing about a political change that the United States Elites want to see.…”

“Our country is intentionally starving about 10 million people and in trying to put them through economic hardship.”

“it's really our duty to try to stop it. Because if you're not trying to stop it, then you're sort of complicit in it.”

Charlie Cabrera, host and journalist with Belly of the Beast, said: “Hi, everyone. Welcome to Belly of the Beast. My name is Charlie Cabrera, and today we are going to be speaking with Eric Sperling. Eric.”

Sperling replied: “Hey, great to meet you. Thanks for having me.”

Cabrera said: “Eric Sperling is a lawyer focused on less interventionist foreign policy of the United States.”

“Eric, can you explain more of War Powers Resolution is, please?”

Sperling said: “Yeah. Well, Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez introduced the War Powers Resolution, which dozens of organizations, including my own at Just Foreign Policy, we've supported and endorsed her effort, along with other members of Congress who've also supported it…”

“my organization, just foreign policy. We're very focused on all the harms that come from US foreign policy,

“So we want to end proxy wars, and then we want to end, you know, sanctions that intentionally harm as Cubanos to, well, sanctions that intentionally harm civilians as a political tactic.”

The lawyer continued: “And the idea is that, you know, Congress, when it engages, when the United States engages in war, our Constitution says that Congress is supposed to authorize that.”

“And the reason is because, you know, war can bring a lot of very harmful consequences, both for our country and for the victims of U.S. foreign policy.”

“This War Powers Resolution says that when the Trump administration is blockading a country from receiving oil, that that is an act of war that needs to be authorized by Congress.”

“And as a result, since he never got it authorized, this War Powers Resolution would force him to stop that oil blockade.”

Cabrera asked: “And what's happening right now with that War Powers resolution?”

Sperling said: “I think everyone is aware there's a very big midterm election coming up. So right now Congress is not in session. But the hope is that when Congress returns from session, that progressive members of Congress led by Nydia Velazquez, who is a long time champion for Cuba historically, that she will bring her vote to the floor and we get to see where every member of the House lines up on this issue of whether the United States should be imposing a blockade on oil going to Cuba, militarily.”

“And the Senate's already taken this vote, and effectively, 46 Democrats voted for it, and two Republicans voted for it. And they said that this blockade is a violation of the War Powers Act. And so now we just want to see where the House stands, and we hope that we'll get another historic, really strong vote that will set, you know, create some positive momentum going into the new Congress that starts in January of 2027.”

“So even if the president doesn't necessarily support that legislation himself, he's receiving the signal in a very loud and clear way that this war is not popular.”

He added: “…if we can create a lot of pressure in Congress and pass the War Powers Resolution and pass restrictions on what Trump and Rubio can do, it's going to be very hard for them to ignore that and move forward.
And I think, you know, that will be, you know, move things back in the direction of hopefully either a reversal on the policy or maybe even a negotiated solution”

The journalist asked: “What led you to work on U.S… foreign policy towards Cuba?”

Sperling said: “U.S foreign policy towards Cuba intentionally harms Cuban civilians with the goal of bringing about a political change that the United States Elites wants to see.…”

“US foreign policy towards Cuba is one of the most well-known failed and harmful policies.”

“…And so not only is it intentionally harming civilians, but it hasn't even that harm, that intentional harm to civilians has not even accomplished the goal that they are still trying very hard to accomplish.”

“And so it's really incredible that the policy has come full circle, that they're back to escalating sanctions. And Rubio is pleading for people to join the CIA effort in Cuba.”

He continued: “It's shocking because it does reek of desperation. Usually Rubio, you would expect him to be a more sophisticated operator. He's been quite a sophisticated operator under the Trump administration so…”

“…the fact that he's openly talking about the CIA doing this, it really should lead us to do another deeper investigation and what the CIA is really doing and what their proper role should be, which some people would say it should be for gathering intelligence, given that that's what their role was, and that we should probably retire this idea of meddling in foreign countries…”

Cabrera asked: “You just talked about midterm elections…Do you think that we can have any hopes to this law, this war power resolution, can pass after the midterms?”

Sperling replied: “Trump's and Rubio's horrific policies have brought the issue of Cuba back onto the agenda, which is at least, you know, the very small upside of this really heartbreaking, tragic policy is that people are thinking about Cuba, they're aware of Cuba. And so it'll be a little bit easier for people who support a different policy towards Cuba to bring the issue to the top of the agenda.”

“so that's going to be the work of the network of people across the country who care about Cuba and who know about how horrific this latest economic kind of strangulation effort is to force that onto the agenda.”

“And depending on that movement, there's a, I think, unprecedented chance to pass major changes in U.S. policy.”

Cabrera asked: “Do you think this opposition against a war on Cuba can translate into votes for the midterms?”

The lawyer said: “I think in that sense, it can be helpful. But I think it's it's really part of a broader vision of, you know, what, what progressives should be really focused on, which is saying we need to get out of foreign countries business and we need to focus on developing our own people. And that's a message that appeals to everybody.”

“when we frame it that way, which is why are we starving Cuba to try to change its government. You know, why don't we not starve them and focus our attention on improving our lives here? That's a message that appeals to people across the spectrum. And it's one that I think is is the winning message on not just Cuba, but on a wide range of issues.”

The journalist asked: “Do you think that fight to stop the US war on Cuba matters?”

Sperling said: “This fight really matters because, you know, our country is intentionally starving about 10 million people and in trying to put them through economic hardship.

“And so for any American who's aware of this, it's really our duty to try to stop it. Because if you're not trying to stop it, then you're sort of complicit in it.”

He added: “That is an unacceptable extreme right policy. That's essentially a war crime. So yeah, it matters a lot.”