The economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States against Cuba caused damages estimated at US$ 8 billion (the equivalent of almost BRL 41 billion) to Cuban society between March 1, 2025 and February 28, 2026, according to calculations released on Monday (7) by Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla.
According to the island’s Foreign Affairs minister, over the past year, the U.S. government intensified its attempts to suffocate and fully isolate the Cuban Revolution. “To this end, the imposition of an energy blockade on Cuba and an exhausting scheme of secondary sanctions against any third-country entity that maintains investments or commercial ties with Cuban entities have been incorporated as tools of maximum pressure.”
This adds to the disastrous effects of Cuba’s presence on the United States Department of State’s list of state sponsors of terrorism, which the minister called unilateral, arbitrary and fraudulent.
Among the effects of the sanctions, the government listed the near total lack of fuel, prolonged and anguishing energy cuts, widespread interruptions of the national power system, recurring failures in the water supply, major difficulties in solid waste collection and difficulties in obtaining food and medicines.
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Due to the pressures, in the first half of 2026, only one tanker from the Russian Federation reached Cuban shores, in the form of humanitarian aid. “Its load of 100,000 tons of crude oil, while it was a relief and a decisive demonstration of solidarity, represented a limited fraction of Cuba’s energy needs.”
It was also cited by the minister that taxi drivers who stopped working due to lack of fuel. Artisans and owners of rental properties, bars and restaurants were left practically without customers when the arrival of international flights and, consequently, of tourists was reduced to a minimum, since Cuba could not access aviation fuel.
The energy restriction and the scarcity of resources derived from the blockade severely impacted the operational capacity of hospitals. Currently, the waiting list for surgery in the country reaches 100,000 patients, of whom 12,000 are children.
In the educational sector, the fuel shortage limited the movement of students and teachers traveling around the country. In higher education, the first semester of classes in 2026 had to be modified to a fully distance-learning format, thus affecting the interaction between teachers and students.
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Food production was also severely affected. During the agricultural dry season that ended in the first months of 2026, on average, only two hours per day could be irrigated, out of the 16 hours required, which led to non-compliance with irrigation cycles and agricultural yields.
In the case of air transportation, it has been much more difficult to find alternatives due to the impossibility of acquiring the necessary fuels. In fact, a few days after the January 29 Executive Order by the United States, Cuba’s civil aviation had to announce the impossibility of refueling aviation fuel (Jet A-1) at Cuban airports.
This had a disastrous effect on tourism in Cuba, as the entry routes for travelers to the country were reduced. It is worth noting that, at the end of 2025, contracts signed with international tour operators projected favorable occupancy rates for the winter season that began in early 2026. However, the imposition of the energy sanction generated an abrupt change in these recovery prospects.
