Duration - 19:24 [a video about Cuba from the news collective Belly Of The Beast]

For more than six decades, U.S. policy toward Cuba has relied on economic warfare instead of diplomacy. The U.S.claims to target the Cuban government but ends up hurting the lives of millions of civilians.

International law expert Alfred de Zayas speaks to Belly of the Beast on Trump’s latest executive order, which allows him to slap tariffs on any country that ships oil to Cuba, and how the policy violates international law. He explains the difference between sanctions and unilateral coercive measures, and how the devastating measures are really a form of collective punishment.

“We are witnessing an assault on the UN Charter, on international law, and on civilization itself,” warns Professor Alfred de Zayas.

What happens when powerful states ignore the rules they demand others follow? And what does that mean for global institutions like the United Nations and the International Criminal Court?