Asked about the setbacks in negotiations with Iran, Vance cited two factors: “Number one, the Iranians are extraordinarily difficult people. Number two, they have a fractured system.”
“There are people within their system that want the war to be over and there are also people in their system that are crazy radicals who want the war to continue,” he said.
“Our job is to navigate through that and get the best outcome for the American people and for the President of the United States as well.”
Wenn GECOMEX keine derartigen Maschinen und Ausrüstung importieren kann, sind seine Tochtergesellschaften nicht in der Lage, Agrarrohstoffe wie Weizen und Bohnen effizient zu verarbeiten. Dies führt wiederum dazu, dass weniger Grundnahrungsmittel ihren Weg in die kubanischen Haushalte finden.
Die Sanktionen gegen den Hafenbetreiber GEMAR sind noch gravierender: Sie verursachen Compliance-Risiken für jedes Schifffahrtsunternehmen, das Liegegebühren in Kuba zahlt. Mehr als 7.000 Container mit Bestimmungsort Havanna sind daher aktuell in der Karibik gestrandet, nachdem Unternehmen wie Hapag-Lloyd und CMA CGM aufgrund der rechtlichen Unsicherheit ihre Aktivitäten in Kuba vorerst eingestellt haben.
In July, the US State Department announced a round of broad economic sanctions against Cuba targeting industries that have historically been spared, limiting the Cuban government’s ability to purchase agricultural commodities and food processing equipment from third countries by singling out Cuba’s state importer (GECOMEX) and port operator (GEMAR).
This is happening in the context of America’s monthslong oil blockade against Cuba, which has already immiserated the general population by impeding basic sanitation and food safety and has killed scores of patients in Cuban hospitals. A US congressional delegation that visited in early July described the situation on the ground as a “silent Gaza.”
(June 8, 2026)
The U.S. declaration of a national emergency in January disrupted fuel shipments to Cuba, severely reducing the country‘s fuel reserves by mid-May. This depletion has led to daily blackouts that now frequently exceed 20 hours. Additional sanctions were imposed in May, including some with extraterritorial effect on private entities, such as traders, insurers, tourism or shipping companies, financial institutions, and others involved in fuel supply or engaged with the country‘s energy, defence, mining, finance, and security sectors.
These measures, combined, are significantly affecting the population’s human rights, notably their access to essential supplies and services, including water, food and healthcare.
(August 12, 2026)
TOKYO – Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi held a telephone call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on August 12, urging an early easing of military tensions in the Middle East while stressing the importance of free and safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz without additional costs.
It is worth recalling that the conflict did not begin over disputes about the Strait of Hormuz. As recently as February 28, commercial ships transited the waterway without restriction.
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With the US maintaining the naval blockade during the ceasefire period, Iran responded by stopping and, in several cases, attacking vessels attempting to cross the Strait without its approval. Insurance rates spiked, shipping lines rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope, and transit times increased by up to three weeks.
Wars of this nature benefit no party in the long term, and they rarely reach a logical conclusion. Their primary victims are innocent civilians who have no role in the conflict. Many civilians in Iran and Lebanon have lost their lives directly to strikes.
Around one-fifth of global oil supplies and large volumes of liquefied natural gas move through the narrow waterway, making it one of the world‘s most important maritime chokepoints. Any disruption can quickly affect fuel prices, shipping costs and inflation worldwide.
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow passage with global consequences. A proposed U.S. toll would mark a sharp escalation after recent strikes and a fragile interim deal with Iran.
(June 25, 2026)
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) are eyeing a 2028 presidential bid in the wake of recent electoral successes across the country.
DSA Co-chair Ashik Siddique told The Hill in a Thursday interview that the organization has more than 100,000 members and 200 chapters across the country. “We want people to be talking proactively about what they would want to see in a presidential campaign,” he said. The organization is looking to see how voters would engage and what would motivate them, he added.
Clark also said that Iran is aware of the strategic value of the Strait of Hormuz in negotiations: “More useful than a nuclear weapon. And they’ve used it,” he said. “And they don’t believe we have an answer for it.”
He added, “They know we don’t want to commit ground troops. They know we don’t want to take losses. We don’t want to get our ships close enough to be hit by their missiles … so this is a real tough military problem. That’s unfortunate because that’s driving their stance in the negotiations.”
The strategy of a naval blockade, contrary to simplistic thinking, is not a low‑cost action. Continuous control of such a sensitive waterway requires a permanent military presence, vast resources, and enduring tensions. That means the US must enter an exhausting situation whose end is unpredictable. Experience has shown that entering such arenas, especially in a complex region like the Persian Gulf, usually leads to prolonged and costly conflicts rather than quick gains.
On the other hand, this action will, in practice, lead to a rise in energy prices on global markets. The Strait of Hormuz is the main artery for a significant portion of the world‘s oil, and any disruption there will immediately drive up prices. This price increase will not only put pressure on the economies of consumer countries such as China, Japan, and Europe, but will also directly harm the US economy. In such circumstances, Washington, by its own hand, imposes additional economic pressure on its allies – allies who are supposed to accompany it on this path.
IEA members hold emergency stockpiles of over 1.2 billion barrels, with a further 600 million barrels of industry stocks held under government obligation. The coordinated stock release is the sixth in the history of the IEA, which was created in 1974. Previous collective actions were taken in 1991, 2005, 2011, and twice in 2022.
The conflict in the Middle East that began on 28 February 2026 has impeded oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, with export volumes of crude and refined products currently at less than 10% of pre-conflict levels. This is forcing operators across the region to shut in or curtail a substantial amount of production.
An average of 20 million barrels per day of crude oil and oil products transited the Strait of Hormuz in 2025, or around 25% of the world’s seaborne oil trade. Options for oil flows to bypass the Strait of Hormuz are limited.
Ten days in, Trump still hasn’t settled on a consistent rationale for why he went to war. Now, he’s hinting that peace might soon be at hand — even while he and top aides simultaneously warn the fighting might get more intense and last longer.
(…)
Tumbling stock markets and spiking oil prices have raised the possibility that a prolonged conflict could shatter the global economy. Days of Iranian retaliatory drone and missile strikes on Gulf states stoked fears of a wider conflagration.
The political clock is now ticking faster inside the United States, where Trump and his allies fret reverberations will worsen the cost-of-living misery that threatens the GOP’s midterm election prospects.
Several distributors already had requested a postponement because of flight cancellations and travel advisories issued by some governments. The United Kingdom, Belgium and Canada have advised against nonessential travel to Cuba, while several airlines suspended operations because of aviation fuel shortages, according to independent outlet 14ymedio.
(February 13, 2026)
Just a day earlier, two Mexican navy vessels docked at the same harbor carrying more than 800 tons of humanitarian aid, including fuel and essential supplies, underscoring the urgency of Cuba‘s shortfalls. The aid mission arrives as the Caribbean nation of nearly 10 million faces not only economic hardship but also continuing pressure from the longstanding US trade embargo.
(February 12, 2026)
Cuba’s current pain may not be enough to topple its Communist government, despite the desires of many Cuban exiles. Nor is the current crisis all Trump’s work. Cuba is a victim of the breakdown of the old international rules-based order.
Sechs Staaten sind Mitglied von Mercosur, von denen vier Teil des Abkommens mit der EU sind: Argentinien, Brasilien, Paraguay und Uruguay.
The European Union and the Mercosur bloc of South American countries formally signed a long-sought landmark free trade agreement on Saturday, capping more than a quarter-century of torturous negotiations to strengthen commercial ties in the face of rising protectionism and trade tensions around the world.
The signing ceremony in Paraguay’s humid capital of Asunción marks a major geopolitical victory for the EU in an age of American tariffs and surging Chinese exports, expanding the bloc’s foothold in a resource-rich region increasingly contested by Washington and Beijing.
Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland would face the tariff, Trump said in a social media post while at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida. The rate would climb to 25% on June 1 if no deal was in place for “the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland” by the United States, he said.
Von der Leyen rechnet vor: Wenn die Mitgliedsstaaten zusätzlich anderthalb Prozent ihrer Wirtschaftsleistung investieren, könnten innerhalb von vier Jahren bis zu 650 Milliarden Euro für Rüstungsausgaben locker gemacht werden
The possibility and speed recovery of Gaza depends on the date of ending of the military operation and subsequent growth performance – both remain unknown.
(…)
However, if the 2007–2022 growth trend persists with an average growth rate of 0.4 per cent, it will take Gaza 70 years just to restore the GDP levels of 2022, with GDP per capita continuously and precipitously declining given the population growth rate.
New York. Die links-gerichteten Präsident:innen aus Lateinamerika haben bei der 78. Vollversammlung der Vereinten Nationen grundlegende Veränderungen der globalen wirtschaftlichen und politischen Ordnung gefordert. Sie übten scharfe Kritik am internationalen Finanzsystem und am Krieg in der Ukraine, die in ihren Augen den Kampf gegen Armut, Ungleichheit und Klimawandel verhindern.
According to a quarterly report by the Bank on its asset purchase facility – the vehicle it uses to hoover up UK debt on financial markets – losses from bond purchases are poised to balloon by the early 2030s.
After the 2008 financial crisis, the Bank of England started purchasing UK government and corporate debt from financial institutions in an effort to stimulate the economy by pushing down yields.
(25.07.2023)
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