Originally Published in Madras Courier
Editorial Note
Money, markets, and financial infrastructure have become powerful instruments of geopolitics. They subdue the world without firing a shot.
In collective memory, blackouts used to mean bombs. Increasingly, they mean an unpaid invoice—the quiet instrument of a financial hegemony that rarely needs to fire a shot. On 18 October 2024, Cuba’s national grid collapsed, plunging ten million into darkness. A failed power plant exposed ageing generators, dwindling fuel and too few dollars to buy either. American sanctions, old enough to collect a pension, had made dealing with Cuba a downside risk few banks or suppliers were willing to take.