Cuba has accused the United States of inflicting over $8bn (£6.1bn) in damages through an intensified economic blockade and an “energy siege” designed to choke off the island’s fuel supplies.
In a statement delivered by Cuba’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Miriam Morales Palmero, Havana condemned Washington’s maximum-pressure policy ahead of the upcoming United Nations General Assembly vote on the US embargo later this month.
According to official figures released by the Cuban government, financial and material losses resulting from the blockade reached $8.08bn between March 2025 and February 2026.
Ambassador Morales Palmero warned that recent executive orders issued by the White House—including secondary sanctions targeting foreign companies supplying energy to the island—amount to “collective punishment” against the Cuban people.
Humanitarian toll and energy crisis
The embassy highlighted a mounting, severe health and infrastructure crisis driven by power blackouts and fuel shortages:
- Hospital disruption: More than 100,000 surgeries have been postponed or cancelled due to power grid disconnections and a lack of generator fuel.
- Cancer treatment shortage: Over 118,000 cancer patients, including 1,200 children, are unable to receive primary therapy drugs due to supply chain restrictions.
- Infant mortality: Infant mortality rates have risen to 9.3 per 1,000 live births, up from historic levels of 4 to 5 per 1,000, attributing 1,780 infant deaths to shortages of medical equipment and treatments.
“The U.S. government intends to remove Cuba from the international economic and financial arena, leaving our country without sources of income,” the statement read, adding that restrictions on energy imports have crippled essential public services, including healthcare, water, and food distribution systems.
Extraterritorial sanctions
Havana specifically pointed to Executive Order 14380, enacted in January 2026, which authorizes secondary tariffs on foreign entities supplying oil to Cuba, alongside Executive Order 14404, introduced in May 2026, which permits the freezing of assets belonging to international companies operating in strategic Cuban sectors such as energy, mining, and finance.
The Cuban diplomatic mission further criticized Washington’s continued placement of Cuba on the US State Sponsors of Terrorism list, arguing it deprives the nation of international banking access and imposes punitive interest rates on foreign transactions.
Despite the escalating tensions, Cuba reaffirmed its willingness to engage in “respectful dialogue” with the US based on equality and mutual respect, while maintaining that it would make no sovereign concessions.
Cuba is scheduled to present its annual resolution demanding an end to the US embargo before the UN General Assembly on 27 and 28 October 2026, seeking the renewed backing of the international community.
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