Vietnam Expands Investment in Cuba Despite U.S. Sanctions

While Washington tries to isolate Cuba from the rest of the world, Vietnam is taking the opposite approach.

During a visit to Havana this week, Vietnam’s Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung met with Cuba’s President Miguel Díaz-Canel and other senior Cuban officials to discuss continued cooperation in food production and renewable energy, two sectors hit hard by U.S. sanctions. 

Vietnam has supported rice production in Cuba for years and one joint project now covers more than 900 hectares.

Vietnam and Cuba have been close allies for more than six decades. In 1960, Cuba was the first country in the Western Hemisphere to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam. In recent years, the Vietnamese government and its people have stepped up to help Cuba as it navigates a crisis largely brought about by U.S. sanctions. A Vietnamese fundraising campaign to support Cuba last year raised $21 million via two million donations.

While Vietnam and Cuba are governed by their respective Communist parties under single-party systems, U.S. policy toward each country could not be more different. While U.S. officials lecture Cuba on “democracy” and “human rights” to justify devastating sanctions and an oil blockade, Vietnam has become the United States’ eighth-largest trading partner and is considered a key strategic ally.