Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

US sanctions on Russia over Ukraine also target Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba
Benjamin Norton
02 Mar 2022
🖨️ Print Article
US sanctions on Russia over Ukraine also target Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega at the ALBA summit in La Habana in December 2021 (Photo credit: Cuba's presidential office)

The U.S. and Western powers talk about a "Troika of Tyranny" in Latin America because the nations in that region recognize the dangers of the U.S./EU/NATO Axis of Domination. But any tyranny taking place is forced upon them by the U.S. and its NATO allies.

This article was originally published in Multipolarista.

President Joe Biden’s top Latin America advisor has admitted that US sanctions against Russia over Ukraine intentionally seek to hurt Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba as well.

The United States imposed a series of harsh sanctions on Russia following Moscow’s recognition of the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region on February 21, and its subsequent military intervention in Ukraine on February 24.

Juan S. González, Biden’s special assistant for Latin America and the US National Security Council’s senior director for the Western Hemisphere, made it clear that these coercive measures against Russia are also aimed at damaging the economies of Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba.

Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba have socialist governments that Washington has long tried to overthrow. All three currently suffer under unilateral US sanctions, which are illegal according to international law.

Former US National Security Advisor John Bolton, an architect of the Iraq War, referred to these three Latin American nations as the so-called “Troika of Tyranny.”

Biden’s advisor González did an exclusive interview with Voz de América, the Spanish-language arm of the US government’s propaganda outlet Voice of America, on February 25.

Voz de América published his comments in a report titled “US sanctions on Russia will impact Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba, White House estimates.”

“The sanctions against Russia are so robust that they will have an impact on those governments that have economic affiliations with Russia, and that is by design,” González explained.

“So Venezuela is going to start feeling that pressure. Nicaragua is going to feel that pressure, along with Cuba,” he added.

Biden’s Latin America advisor noted that Washington has imposed sanctions on 13 top financial institutions in Russia, including some of the largest in the country. He proudly said that these coercive measures will, “by design,” harm other countries that do a lot of trade with the Eurasian power.

González also used his interview with the US-funded Voz de América to reiterate Washington’s call for regime change against these three socialist governments in Latin America.

His comments were reported by the independent Bolivia-based news website Kawsachun News.

Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba stand with Russia against US and NATO

Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba have stood with Russia against NATO expansion and Western military encirclement.

President Nicolás Maduro said that Venezuela “laments the mockery and breaking of the Minsk agreements by NATO, promoted by the United States of America.”

Maduro stressed that Washington and NATO bear responsibility for the conflict, and “have generated strong threats against the Russian Federation.”
 

Cuba blamed Washington for the crisis as well. Its Foreign Ministry stated, “The U.S. determination to continue NATO’s progressive expansion towards the Russian Federation borders has brought about a scenario with implications of unpredictable scope, which could have been avoided.”

Denouncing Western governments for sending weapons to Ukraine, Cuba declared, “History will hold the United States accountable for the consequences of an increasingly offensive military doctrine outside NATO’s borders, which threatens international peace, security and stability.”

Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega condemned Washington for sponsoring a 2014  coup in Ukraine, and joined Russia in recognizing the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.

The chairman of Russia’s State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, traveled to Nicaragua to meet with top officials from the Sandinista government, and thanked them for their support against NATO expansion and US threats.

Multipolarista is an independent news outlet documenting the transition to a multipolar world. Multipolarista is edited by journalist Benjamin Norton.

Sanctions
Venezuela
Cuba
Nicaragua
Russia

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


Related Stories

Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
The U.S. Determination to Achieve Full Spectrum Dominance is Not In Decline
23 September 2026
The trope of the United States being in a state of decline is a common one, but it should not be accepted without scrutiny. The U.S.
Jacqueline Luqman
The Perfect Victim Narrative Applied To Foreign Policy Only Keeps U.S. Imperialism Alive
23 September 2026
The demand to call out alleged crimes in Iran or Cuba while those countries face annihilation from the U.S.
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
The Ultimate Betrayal of Alex Saab and the Fate of Nicolás Maduro and the Venezuelan People
16 September 2026
The United States got its hands on Alex Saab a second time in order to use him in its case against Nicolás Maduro. The U.S.
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
In the same boat?
09 September 2026
BOOM goes tuna and swordfish stuffed brown burlap bags aboardboats blown to smithereens. Presto! Fishing is now narco-trafficking.
Imani Nile
Don't Bring None of Your Anti Anti-Imperialist Bullshit to Cuba
09 September 2026
Empire taught us what to believe about the Global South.
Logan McMillen
After Blocking Fuel, the US Turns to Cuba’s Food Supply
09 September 2026
The Trump administration has already cut off Cuba’s access to oil.
Luciano Vasapollo
Cuba Stands Firm, Venezuela Risks Losing its Sovereignty
09 September 2026
Cuba's leadership has chosen resistance over subordination as the blockade tightens, but Venezuela's sovereignty is being stripped away.
Black Alliance For Peace
Declaration of a Zone of Peace
26 August 2026
From the blockade of Cuba to the kidnapping of Venezuela's president, U.S.
Kimberly D. Miller
Beyond the "Delcyification" of Analysis
19 August 2026
Siege, survival, and the dialectics of Venezuelan sovereignty.
Luis Britto GarcĂ­a
Venezuela Is Not Iran
19 August 2026
Venezuela is not Iran or Cuba, but those nations teach us that sovereignty is not given but is obtained through resistance.

More Stories


  • Jon Jeter
    In Complying With Trump’s Demands to Crack Down on Free Speech, Columbia Confesses That Money, Not Education, Is Its Goal
    26 Mar 2025
    Columbia University quickly rolled over for the Trump administration’s demands to suppress pro-Palestinian protests, pulling back the thin veil of liberal academic freedom.
  • Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Chasing Chuck Tumor's testicular cancer—or building Resistance to Stage 4 Capitalism?
    26 Mar 2025
    "Chase Chuck Tumor's testicular cancer—or build Resistance to Stage 4 Capitalism?" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence
  • Clau O'Brien Moscoso
    As Elections Near, Ecuador's Working Poor and Colonized under Siege - Part 2
    26 Mar 2025
    Ecuador was once a safe country with some of the best economic prospects in the region. Today, Ecuador has a nearly 500% increase in violent crimes and a marginalized population of poor, African, and…
  • Jacqueline Luqman
    It Is Time To Reckon With The Reactionary Rantings of ADOS/FBA
    26 Mar 2025
    The ADOS and FBA (American Descendants of Slavery and Foundational Black Americans) movements have gained influence by advocating for reparations exclusively for Black Americans descended from U.S.…
  • Mark P. Fancher
    The Folly of So-Called Foundational Black Americans
    26 Mar 2025
    So-called Foundational Black Americans may tell themselves they are noble protectors of ancestral legacy, but they are, in fact, little different from European groups in this country that…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us