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BLOCKADE WITHOUT END: THE US FAILS, CUBA PAYS  
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Katrien Demuynck
November 6, 2025
Morning Star
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_ Sixty years of blockade have not made Cuba collapse, but they have
devastated it. While Washington stands isolated at the United Nations,
the Cuban people are paying the price. _

, People traverse a road flooded by Hurricane Melissa on the southern
coast of Santiago de Cuba, October 30, 2025.

 

FOR the 33rd consecutive year, the UN approved on October 29 by an
overwhelming majority a resolution condemning the US blockade
against Cuba.

This vote comes at a precarious moment, as Cuba is enduring a
difficult — indeed, a very difficult — period. Anyone who has
recently visited the island can testify to that. The situation is even
worse than in the 1990s, after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Cubans are dealing with daily power outages, shortages of medicines,
and runaway inflation.

This is the result of the longest-lasting economic blockade in world
history. In 2022, a UN commission stated that “the numerous United
States sanctions constitute the most severe and prolonged system of
unilateral coercive measures ever applied against any country.”

Without those deadly sanctions, life in Cuba would look very
different. “If Cuba did not have a blockade, it could be like the
Netherlands. It has an intellectually well-prepared, highly educated
population,” said Brazilian president Lula in 2021.

But Uncle Sam does not allow it. For 60 years now, the US has done
everything possible to bring the country to its knees.

“Washington’s hysterical dedication to crush Cuba from almost the
first days of its independence in 1959 is one of the most
extraordinary phenomena of modern history, but still, the level of
petty sadism is a constant surprise,” said Noam Chomsky.

From someone like Donald Trump, that sadism should not be surprising.
As expected, his administration tightened the screws even further.
Among other measures, Cuba was placed on the list of countries that
support terrorism. As a result, financial transactions with foreign
entities are almost completely blocked. Over the past year, 40 banks
have refused to carry out transactions with Cuba.

For the economy of any country, such a situation is a heavy blow.
Moreover, like many other nations in the global South, Cuba is still
struggling with the economic aftermath of the Covid crisis. The
tourism sector — the lifeline of the Cuban economy — has been hit
particularly hard. In the first quarter of 2025, the number of foreign
visitors fell by 30 per cent.

By cutting Cuba off from the world’s largest economy and making
financial transactions more difficult, growth has stalled. Trade has
become more expensive and slower, foreign investors have pulled back,
and sectors such as agriculture, industry and tourism are operating
below capacity.

According to the report prepared by Cuba this year to support the UN
resolution, the blockade causes $100 million in damage to the Cuban
economy in just five days. That amount equals the funding needed to
repair one of the country’s main thermoelectric power plants.

On an annual basis, total losses due to the blockade are estimated at
$7.5 billion, or 7 per cent of the GDP. Converted to the equivalent in
Britain, that would mean a loss of £202bn, which shows just how great
the impact is.

Naturally, this also has major consequences for the daily lives of
Cubans. Hospitals are struggling with shortages of medicines, medical
equipment, and even simple spare parts. This results in delayed
treatments and lower quality of care, from cancer therapies to the
management of common diseases.

Food is another major problem. Cuba has to import a large share of its
food, but due to restrictions on transport and financing, costs and
delivery times increase. This drives up prices and regularly leads to
shortages, with tangible effects on the nutrition and well-being
of families.

The blockade also slows technological development. Access to
technology and software from the US is severely restricted, which
widens the digital divide. This hinders education and research,
stifles business growth, and limits access to information for the
entire population.

Even harder to gauge is the emotional toll. The Cuban foreign minister
puts it this way: “It is impossible to express in figures the
emotional damage, the fear, the suffering and the hardships that the
blockade causes to Cuban families. This has been the case for
generations, since more than 80 per cent of Cubans on the island were
born after the beginning of the blockade.”

Despite all this aggression, deprivation and emotional harm, the US
does not succeed in disrupting the country to such an extent that the
population turns against the revolution. But it has indeed caused the
largest migration wave in Cuban history. Since 2020, likely more than
a million people have left the island, especially young people, which
is about 10 per cent of the population.

On October 28 and 29, the Cuban resolution “Necessity of ending the
economic, financial and commercial blockade of Cuba” was discussed
in the UN general assembly. As in previous years, it was expected that
the resolution would be approved by an overwhelming majority. The only
votes against last year were those of the US and Israel.

This year the Trump administration did everything possible to increase
the number of votes against and abstentions. Through an internal memo,
US diplomats were encouraged worldwide to pressure governments to vote
in that sense.

But it did not succeed. Once again an overwhelming majority voted for
the immediate end of this cruel and pointless sanctions policy. 165
countries voted in favor, seven against (including the US, Israel,
Ukraine, Argentina and Hungary), and there were 12 abstentions.

In this matter Washington is highly isolated, but Cubans are paying a
high price.

* Cuba
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* US blockade
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* Sanctions
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* United Nations
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