On February 12, Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA) introduced legislation to finally lift all provisions of the US trade embargo against Cuba and advance the cause of normalized relations between Washington and Havana. The United States–Cuba Trade Act “would repeal or amend several laws codified over decades that restrict trade, exchange, telecommunications, and travel with Cuba,” according to a statement issued by McGovern’s office. The bill also calls for a bilateral dialogue, mandating that “the President should take all necessary steps to advance negotiations with the Government of Cuba.”

“I think we have to establish an opposition to Trump’s policy,” Representative McGovern asserted in an interview with The Nation. “I think we have to say there’s another way to do this.”

The legislative initiative comes as tensions are rapidly rising between Cuba and the United States. On Wednesday, Cuba’s border patrol reportedly exchanged gunfire with an armed crew of a Florida-registered speedboat within one nautical mile of Cuba’s northern coastline, killing four and injuring six on board; one Cuban commander was also injured. “In the face of current challenges,” according to a government statement, “Cuba reaffirms its commitment to protecting its territorial waters…in order to protect its sovereignty and stability in the region.”

Those “current challenges” are the result of the Trump administration’s decision to ratchet up economic pressure on the Cuban people by cutting off shipments of Venezuela petroleum and threatening other oil-producing nations to halt all oil exports to the island. The “total pressure” policy of energy deprivation is suffocating Cuba’s basic economic activities—creating a burgeoning humanitarian crisis for the Cuban populace. Foreign airlines ferrying tourists from Canada and Russia have suspended flights because there is no aviation fuel for their planes; tourist hotels are shuttered, costing thousands of Cuban jobs; the Canadian mining conglomerate, Sherritt, has suspended its operations on the island. Clinics and hospitals are closing. For average Cubans, “every day brings extended power cuts, intermittent water, spoiled food, suspended classes, canceled surgeries, and transportation that stops without warning,” Maria José Espinosa and Emily Mendrala reported in El País. “Families spend entire days searching for fuel, cooking gas, or basic goods.”

Across the international community, leaders are addressing the cruelty of US sanctions. At the Vatican, Pope Leo has expressed his concern for the “pain and anguish” of the Cuban people and urged both Washington and Havana to engage in a “sincere and effective dialogue,” free of coercion, to resolve rising tensions. “The blockade that the United States has imposed on Cuba,” stated Chilean President Gabriel Boric, “violates the human rights of the entire population.” “You cannot strangle a people like this,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has asserted, while offering the good offices of her country to facilitate talks between Washington and Havana and dispatching naval vessels filled with humanitarian assistance.

Just this week, at a meeting of Caribbean nations—CARICOM—attended by Secretay of State Marco Rubio, leaders across the region condemned the humanitarian impact of US economic pressure on Cuba. The prime minister of Jamaica, CARICOM chair Andrew Holness, called for a “constructive dialogue between Cuba and the US aimed at de-escalation, reform and stability. We must address the situation in Cuba with clarity and courage,” Holness said.

“The situation in Cuba is dire,” McGovern, and Massachusetts Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey warned President Trump in a February 25 letter to the White House. “Given that Cuba poses no credible national security threat to the United States, we urge you to lift the oil embargo on Cuba immediately to prevent unnecessary human suffering and reduce the potential for a regional refugee crisis.” As their letter admonished Trump: “Your escalation of the embargo and use of tariffs to starve a nation of critical resources are forms of economic coercion without a defensible rationale.”

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

The Nation: Representative McGovern, you have introduced a resolution to lift US sanctions and finally end the Cuba trade embargo. In the MAGA-controlled Congress, the votes aren’t there. What, then, is the purpose of moving this bill forward at this time?

Jim McGovern: I think we have to establish an opposition to Trump’s policy. I think we have to say there’s another way to do this. There has been a very little discussion on Cuba, you know, in recent years in Congress. I think a lot of people on the left have thought it’s a hopeless cause. And, you know, the people on the right just figure it’s a matter of time before the government collapses and they can put in whoever they want.