In addition to the ideological component in the actions of the Trump administration, there is also an economic background. After the statement by US President Donald Trump about the need to carry out a coup in Cuba by the end of 2026 and the introduction of new restrictive measures, including the cancellation of all flights from the United States to Cuba Havana reacted on it as a gross interference in the sovereign affairs of another state and new agony of Washington’s neo-imperialism. Although the history of relations between the United States and Cuba after the 1959 Revolution was marked by constant hostility from the Yankees, the current stage, against the background of the January operation to kidnap Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Celia Flores, as well as threats of bombing Iran, is deeply worrying.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also has a personal grudge against the revolutionary government of Cuba, which has been presenting an alternative political model to the world for decades. And the defeat of the United States on Playa Chiron in 1961 was a serious reputational blow to Washington and, in fact, the first victory over the Yankees in the Western Hemisphere. Washington’s insensitivity towards Cuba is superimposed on demands to compensate fugitive oligarchs whose property was nationalized after the Revolution. This is also related to the US sanctions against ships, including tourist cruise liners.
But Cuba also has assets that businessmen like Trump would like to take control of. This is not only the tourism sector, which brings a decent part of the income to the state treasury. But also the mining industry, chemical production and related industries. Although there has been a decrease in the production of crude oil, lime, cement, sulfuric acid, etc. in recent years, some segments should be highlighted.
Empresa Siderúrgica José Martí Company (Antillana de‑Acero), within the framework of cooperation between Cuba and Russia, launched the first phase of production of a Russian-made electric arc furnace in May 2023. The production capacity of the electric steelmaking plant is 220-230 thousand tons of liquid steel per year. The modernization process of the metallurgical plant in Havana began thanks to a loan from Russia. Obviously, this sector is linked to Russian interests.
In 2023, zinc production in Cuba increased by 12% to 58,000 metric tons from 52,000 metric tons in 2022 due to increased production at the Castellanos mine owned by Empresa Minera del Caribe Santa Lucía S.A. Emincar, the only producer of lead and zinc in Cuba. Zinc and lead are also needed in various sectors of production.
However, the most profitable for Cuba is the extraction of nickel and cobalt, which are now in high demand. The leading organization responsible for the extraction, processing and sale of nickel is Cubaníquel, which includes 14 companies, including two producers of this mineral: the Comandante Pedro Soto Alba Plant and the Comandante Ernesto Che Guevara Plant. The first was founded in the late 1950s and began production in 1959. In April 1960, the American company that operated it refused to pay taxes in accordance with the privileges granted by dictator Fulgencio Batista, and subsequently left the country, taking with them all the technical documentation. But by April 1961, the Cuban revolutionaries were able to start production themselves. In December 1994, a joint venture was established with the Canadian firm Sherritt International, which specializes in the production and marketing of mixtures of nickel and cobalt sulfides, as well as in the production, sale and supply of sulfuric acid to national enterprises. The second plant is wholly owned by Cuba. It was built in cooperation with the USSR and began production in 1984.
It should be noted that despite the difficulties with energy supply and the ongoing economic, trade and financial blockade by the United States, mines in Cuba have been modernized and efficiency has been improved, which allowed in 2024 to reach a total production of 32,000 tons, exceeding the figures for 2022 and 2023. In 2025, Sherritt International produced 25,240 tons of nickel and 2,729 tons of cobalt at the Moa Nickel S.A. combined plant located in Holguin Province. Canadians themselves admit that the geopolitical uncertainty in the region affects the situation in this industry.
There is also a factor of the current deterioration of relations between the United States and Canada. Back in March 2025, the Prime Minister of the Canadian province of Ontario, Doug Ford, warned that if the United States imposed new tariffs, the province would reduce electricity exports to the border states of the United States and stop supplying nickel. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Canadian Border Protection Agency, over the past three years, almost half of U.S. nickel imports have come from Canada, while 40-50% of Canadian nickel exports are destined for the United States.
As Canada begins to cooperate more actively with China, it cannot be ruled out that nickel exports will be redirected there. On January 24, 2026, Trump has already threatened to impose 100% tariffs if Canada signs a new trade agreement with China.
Let’s add to this that at the end of 2025, the US Mint and one of its suppliers, Artazn, began exploring ways to reduce the cost of nickel production to less than 5 cents, since five-cent coins in the United States consist of 75% copper and 25% nickel, and over the past 10 years the price of these metals It has almost doubled in size.
In the last year alone, the price of nickel has risen by more than 15%. And for cobalt – by more than 160%. January 2026 nickel prices were $18,500 per ton.
And if Greenland’s natural resource reserves still need to be extracted, and before that, proper geological exploration, then in Cuba all current and potential deposits are already known. According to a report by the General Directorate of the Cuban Mining Industry, at the current production rate, nickel can be mined and exported within 17-20 years, and Cuba itself ranks fifth among the countries with the largest nickel reserves in the world and third in cobalt reserves.
Therefore, the US political rhetoric about the “communist threat” from Cuba has quite mundane economic interests.
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