Cuba sent doctors. Washington sent a destroyer.

This opinion piece critiques the United States' imperialist stance toward Cuba, contrasting American military aggression with Cuban global solidarity. The author highlights the recent arrival of a sanctioned Russian oil tanker in Matanzas, which provided temporary relief to Cuba's severe energy crisis amidst a continuing US blockade enforced by naval destroyers. The article condemns former President Donald Trump's rhetoric about 'taking' Cuba, interpreting it as an extension of historical colonial and predatory logic aimed at forcing submission. By juxtaposing Cuba's deployment of medical professionals to fight Ebola in Liberia with Washington's military presence, the text argues that US media and policymakers fail to recognize Cuba as a protagonist in its own narrative. Instead, they view it through a lens of failure and opportunity for possession. The author draws on personal anthropological experiences in Havana to illustrate the complexities of Cuban society, challenging simplistic Western portrayals. The piece asserts that the US blockade harms not just a state but six decades of internationalist efforts, urging a shift from a logic of possession to one of solidarity.