"What does Trump win with all this?" | Cubans eat …

In Havana, life goes quietly. As the United States multiplies the measures that complicate investments and send money to the island, citizens continue their routine. Although when Donald Trump is mentioned, they frown.

"It's a constant threat, I think Trump is a complicated person and he likes to have people in the fist – it's your way," says Professor Mercedes Martínez, 85. The United States has allowed its courts to take legal action against Cuban and foreign companies managing property confiscated after the 1959 revolution. "They have been nationalized in accordance with the law," said the Cuban Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez. This will also limit Americans' trips to the island and the sending of funds, essential to supplement the meager incomes of many families and for the emergence of private businesses.

In the central district of Vedado is the Habana Libre Hotel, the former Havana Hilton, one of the buildings nationalized by the revolution and which, in theory, could be subject to demand. It is surrounded by restaurants, craft shops and modest supermarkets where citizens shop. That's where Iris Lara, housewife, comes from. Like many townspeople, he prefers not to talk politics.

Today, Cubans are more concerned about the food supply difficulties that affect the country, because of an economy whose modernization is not taking off, but also the blockade imposed by the United States. since 1962.

Although speaking of the measures that Trump will apply, with demands that could affect the properties of the island, Iris closes the ranks. "It will not come, we are all here to support us, we will not let you take anything," he said before continuing his way. Trump justifies the measures taken against Cuba in retaliation for Nicolás Maduro 's support of the socialist government in Venezuela, whose mandate he does not recognize.

Along the Malecón, continue the leisurely walks of tourists in search of a 1950s cabriolet car and its beaches. Cuba expects to receive 5 million visitors this year. To revive its economy, the socialist island has put all its badets on the development of tourism, with luxury hotels, in which participate European companies such as Meliá Spanish, which runs Habana Libre or Iberostar, and the French Accor.

Several companies in the European Union, the island's largest trading partner since 2017, could be affected by US measures in Chapter III of the Helms-Burton Act, which will come into force on May 2. By rejecting this measure, the bloc warned that it had laws to thwart the effects of these lawsuits and even bring cases to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The ambbadador of the European Union in Havana, Alberto Navarro, said the US decision aimed to scare investments, key to the country's economic revival. "It's up to an entrepreneur to say: well, instead of investing in Cuba, I'll invest in Punta Cana (Dominican Republic)," he added.

Cuba rejected the measures. According to Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, these problems are affecting Cuban families, emigration and US citizens. But take things slowly: "Without losing your sleep, with confidence, with enthusiasm and with the certainty that we are going in the right direction, we will have no difficulty."

Cuba boasts of having withstood the invasion led by the United States in 1961, the Battle of the Bay of Pigs, which the Trump Government took advantage on its anniversary to announce the measures taken against the United States. ;island.

The grandfather of Professor Mercedes participated in the struggle for independence against the Spanish crown in 1895, his father during the revolution of Fidel Castro and herself during activities during the missile crisis in Italy. 1962. In addition, his generation resisted the economic crisis of 1990 after the fall of the Soviet Union, the so-called "special period".

Despite everything, Mercedes argues for peaceful coexistence. "We show that we are not afraid, that we are united, but that we do not want to fight like little children, but that we agree." Because, what does Trump win? with all that? "