Doctors, tourism, cigars: US pressure assails CubaAFP, HAVANACuba’s already shattered economy is being assailed on various fronts as US President Donald Trump has vowed to bring the communist island to its knees. A blockade of oil deliveries to Cuba has forced emergency rationing, kneecapping the country’s critical tourism and tobacco sectors even as remittances are under threat and income earned from sending doctors abroad has been all but cut off. Sending medical missions abroad has long been a key source of foreign currency for Cuba, totaling around US$7 billion last year, according to official figures. The oil dearth also threatens to deal a fatal blow to tourism, the island’s second source of foreign income after doctors. Cuba is known as a producer of high-quality tobacco and cigars, with sales totaling US$827 million in 2024.

Source: Taipei Times February 17, 2026 17:15 UTC