Cuba Could be on the Brink of a Revolutionary COVID Vaccine, But US Sanctions Are Slowing It Down

Cuba is already a medical powerhouse, and if it can successfully navigate the minefield of US sanctions, it could supply much of Latin America with a COVID vaccine.

Alan Macleod
By Alan Macleod
Cuba COVID vaccine Feature photo

Cuba has announced positive and promising results for a number of separate COVID-19 vaccines it is currently developing, but U.S. sanctions against the small island nation are hampering the development and rollout of the potentially life-saving treatments. Two candidates, named Sovereign 1 and Sovereign 2, have generated antibodies blocking

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Trump Hammers Cuba While Cuba Cures the Sick

Not content to sabotage Cuba’s domestic health sector, the Trump administration has been attacking Cuba’s international medical assistance, from the teams fighting coronavirus to those caring for underserved communities in 164 countries.

Medea Benjamin
Leonardo Flores
By Medea Benjamin
And Leonardo Flores
Cuba Sanctions

A team of 85 Cuban doctors and nurses arrived in Peru on June 3 to help the Andean nation tackle the coronavirus pandemic. That same day, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced another tightening of the sanctions screws. This time he targeted seven Cuban entities, including Fincimex, one of the principal financial institutions handling

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If Trump Does It, It’s Atrocious — But Hasn’t the US Been Doing Much the Same for Decades?

Rather than reflexively opposing Trump, the Democrats would be wise, from a political perspective, to recalibrate their failed foreign-policy positions, and reestablish their bona fides with the American electorate as the party for peace.

Jon Jeter
By Jon Jeter
Makeshift coffins bearing the photos of Iraqi children are arranged in the designated protest area outside of the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, Aug. 15, 2000. U.S. sanctions killed hundreds of Iraqis each day. Nick Ut | AP

The numbers have long been a matter of dispute but, generally, experts believe that the United Nations’ blockade of Iraq between April of 1990 and August of 2003 was responsible for the deaths of more than a million Iraqis, roughly 567,000 of them children. This was no accident. Designed by the United States and the British for the ostensible

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US Seeks UN Permission To Board, Capture North Korean Ships

The US plan is to militarily board North Korean ships, and officials are conceding that’s almost certainly a recipe for military confrontation.

Jason Ditz
By Jason Ditz
A journalist sits near the North Korean cargo ship Mu Du Bong, anchored in the port of Tuxpan, Mexico. Despite North Korea's protests, a panel of experts that monitors sanctions against Pyongyang for its nuclear and missile programs asked the Mexican government not to release the boat. (AP/Felix Marquez)

Despite Russian opposition already having effectively killed the chances of a total oil ban on North Korea being enforced, the US is still pushing the plan at the UN Security Council. It’s not just a ban, however. The US wants permission to militarily enforce it. The resolution includes broad language allowing the US Navy and Air Force to

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Somalia Turns Down $80M Saudi Offer To Cut Ties With Qatar

Saudi Arabia threatened to withdraw financial aid to the Somali government unless Somalia change its neutral stance on Qatar.

Middle East Monitor
By Middle East Monitor
Somalia's President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, also known as Farmajo, attends his inauguration ceremony in Mogadishu, Somalia, Feb. 22, 2017. (AP/Farah Abdi Warsameh)

Somali President, Mohammed Abdullah Farmajo, has been offered $80 million in exchange for his agreement to sever diplomatic relations with the State of Qatar, the New Khalij news outlet reported a prominent journalist has revealed. “After two hours of enticement, Farmajo rejected the tempting offer,” journalist Jaber Al-Harimi said. Yesterday,

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Obama, Castro Lay Bare Tensions On Embargo, Human Rights

Obama said the latest meeting is “a symbol of the end of this Cold War chapter.”

Associated Press
By Associated Press
Barack Obama and Raúl Castro. (AP Photo)

HAVANA — Laying bare a half-century of tensions, President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro prodded each other Monday over human rights and the longstanding U.S. economic embargo during an unprecedented joint news conference that stunned Cubans unaccustomed to their leaders being aggressively questioned. The exchanges underscored

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