Might is Right, or is it? The Empire Strikes Again Part 1

(𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘦: 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦-𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯.)

There is a very familiar eerie feeling about recent developments in our region that brings to mind that apocalyptic sentiment encapsulated in the saying, “Might is right.” From the aerial bombing of fishing boats in mainly Caribbean waters under the pretext of counter-narcotics - never mind that not one bale of drugs has been retrieved as evidence- to the made-for-the-movies, Rambo-style abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife to face drug charges in the USA and now the shameful oil embargo on Cuba aimed at strangulating that Caribbean island’s economy and plunging it literally into darkness, the Caribbean as a “zone of peace” is living one of its worst geopolitical nightmares.

For a region born out of the crucible of empire and the bitter taste of blood, sugar and salt, watered with tears, the politics of "Might is Right" has reopened a deep historical scar. As the geopolitical theater of 2026 unfolds, that scar is being forcefully and mercilessly ripped out.

From the unprovoked invasion of a sovereign state in January that resulted in the capture of Nicolás Maduro in Caracas to the mounting pressure on Havana and the transactional diplomacy across the islands, a new—yet hauntingly familiar—ethos has resurfaced. It is the return of the bully, the resurrection of the empire, and the unsettling realization that for Caribbean island nations, the "New World Order" is a return to an old and ugly one.

The “Trumped” up Monroe Doctrine and Venezuelan Oil

The bedrock of this shift is what can be called the "Trump Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine. Originally a nineteenth-century policy to keep European powers out of this hemisphere, the Monroe Doctrine has been dusted off and weaponized by the current US Administration.

This iteration, however, isn't just about defense or “national security”; it's about ownership. The military intervention in Venezuela has laid bare a crude reality: the drug excuse was just a ruse; the real goal was oil. In the eyes of Washington, Venezuelan oil doesn't belong to the Venezuelan people—it belongs to the American energy barons. By installing U.S. oversight of Caracas's oil infrastructure, the administration has signaled that natural resources of other countries are fair game if the "strongman" at the helm of affairs isn't our strongman.

Wild Wild West Mentality and the Return of Gunboat Diplomacy

This is foreign policy executed with a "Wild Wild West" cowboy mentality. We see it in the naval blockades of the Caribbean Sea and the "guns ablazing" approach to maritime interdiction that has characterized the last year. This is the return of "gunboat diplomacy", where the roar of an engine and the sight of a destroyer replace the nuanced language of the diplomat. It is the shredding of international law with a Darwinian mentality: let the strongest survive.

For the Caribbean, which for decades has tried to position the region as a "Zone of Peace," this militarization is a troubling regression. The Caribbean is once again being treated not as a neighborhood of sovereign partners, but as the "backyard" of the U.S. - a space to be policed, cleared of "outside influences," and brought under implacable and sometimes suffocating control.

The Bully and the Bullied: The MOU Trap

Perhaps the most cynical aspect of this era is the treatment of Caribbean and African states regarding US deportees. Through so-called non-binding Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs), the U.S. has pressured island nations like Antigua, St. Kitts and Dominica (as well as some African states into accepting third-country nationals and deportees in exchange for maintaining basic visa access and possibly fending off a financial and economic squeeze, if not outright military intervention.

This is nothing more than a transaction of the desperate—sovereignty sold for the mere right of a citizen to travel to Miami! This bully-and-the-bullied dynamic has already sown seeds of division within CARICOM. While some leaders attempt to hold the line, others, fearing the weaponization of tariffs, the DOJ and/or ICE, have succumbed. The strong-arm divide and conquer tactic is already showing signals of a potential death of CARICOM's collective bargaining power, as the "Art of the Deal" replaces established bilateral and multilateral treaties.

The Oil Siege of Cuba: Darkness and the Feeble Regional Response

Nowhere is the "Might is Right" doctrine more visceral than in the current U.S. oil embargo on Cuba. Executive Order 14380, which authorizes tariffs on any nation supplying oil to Havana, has plunged the island into its worst energy crisis since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution more than sixty years ago.

The response from the Caribbean to this flagrant violation of international law, which is tantamount to a declaration of war, has been largely feeble, wimpy echo. While some former heads of government in the Caribbean have issued pleas for humanitarian relief, the actual sitting governments have remained paralyzed by fear.

The Caribbean's inability to form a unified front against the strangulation of a neighbor - a sister island that has been there through thick and thin for the region- stands as a grim testament to the effectiveness of the bully's playbook. Apparently, our current leaders have traded regional solidarity for the “safety” of staying out of the crosshairs.

We, who claim to carry the blood of Toussaint L’Ouverture in our veins; of Nanny and Bussa, of Dessalines and Tula, of Tacky and Sharpe and Fedon and of so many others of our brave ancestors who fought Empires heroically so that we could be free, now crumble under the mighty boots of bootleggers of old. We turn our backs on Cuba that sent medical brigades to restore our sight, rescue us in a pandemic, assist us in recovering from hurricanes, while the big bully threw toilet paper at us.

We shrug our shoulders and remain silent, like castrated c*cks, ducking imaginary spurs, while they tighten the noose around the necks of our brothers and sisters in Cuba.

The response from Africa is just as disgustingly disgraceful. Cuban blood irrigated the freedom of Angola. Cuba crossed the ocean to fight against Apartheid. And now in its hour of need, Africa is silent like a tomb. All these lambs are silent not because a lion roared, but because they are afraid. Well, today it is Cuba, who will it be tomorrow?

In a poem I wrote last year. I said,

“Silence fattens evil

emboldens it to fester like a sore

eating greedily deep into the sheeps’ marrow until it chokes on the wishbone of a meeky mouse that dared to say:

Enough!! No more!! No mas!!”

The Caribbean must stand up and say, No more! No mas! Because silence is not neutrality, it is not a safe haven either. Silence is choosing the wrong side of history. Silence is ultimately betrayal.

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