The Cuban government has refused a request by the U.S. Embassy in Havana to allow it to import diesel for its generators while the Trump administration continues to impose a fuel blockade on the island, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the matter.
Small nations are going to need help from larger, friendly nations, that’s just reality. It doesn’t make them Colonies until they lose their ability to make their own choices.
But this begs the question of what exactly makes an independent nation. Can you truly make your own choices when everything you do will be scrutinized by the hegemons who dictate how much aid you deserve to receive? Can you ever prosper when international currency favours specific countries and tiny nations can’t trade on the world stage without the big countries taking their cut?
Today, large powers don’t conquer countries in name. Rather, they conquer them via economic force and allow them to stay “independent” in name only.
Even a massive nation like America needs allies, so a small one is going to need them even more.
Sure, there is always the chance that someone bigger will take over in some way, but what else is a small country going to do? That’s just life. They can’t get along alone, so they have to seek out alliances of many kinds - political, military, trade, educational, etc. You just have to choose your partners carefully, and hope they don’t undergo a major political shift, and suddenly become predatory.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what’s happened with America.