Cuba Calls US Economic Embargo ‘Genocide,’ Puts One-Year Damage at $8 Billion

Cuba says the United States’ economic embargo has inflicted more than $8 billion in damage over the past year and has deepened an energy and medical crisis across the island. Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla called the sanctions “genocide” at a news conference in Havana presenting Cuba’s report on the impact of the US blockade.

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The report puts Cuba’s losses between March 2025 and February 2026 at $8.0833 billion, up 7% from the previous year. The figure does not include the effects of an energy blockade and secondary sanctions introduced by the United States on Jan. 29, meaning the total could rise further. Washington has also announced a one-year extension of its sanctions against Cuba.

Cuba says the energy crisis has brought prolonged blackouts and interruptions to water, medical and transport services. In some hospitals, operating rooms have reportedly run out of fuel for emergency generators, forcing medical staff to perform surgery by the light of mobile phones. More than 95% of equipment such as incubators depends on unstable electricity supplies, the report says. Of 100,000 patients waiting for surgery, 12,000 are children.

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It means spending months living with only two or three hours of electricity a day, food spoiling, being unable to sleep because of the heat, and children doing their homework almost in the dark.

The report also says infant deaths rose from four per 1,000 live births in 2018 to 9.9 in 2025, while the child survival rate fell from 85% to 65%. Rodríguez said the blockade punished everyone on the island, not only the government: “It means spending months living with only two or three hours of electricity a day, food spoiling, being unable to sleep because of the heat, and children doing their homework almost in the dark.”

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Despite the lack of progress, we remain willing to maintain contact, but there are no negotiations or agenda.

He also questioned the delivery of $100 million in humanitarian aid announced by the United States, saying neither the Cuban government nor local churches had been notified in advance and that only 700 families had received food and hygiene supplies. He said hurricane Melissa assistance was cut from $9 million to $6 million, with slightly more than $1 million actually paid. “Despite the lack of progress, we remain willing to maintain contact, but there are no negotiations or agenda,” Rodríguez said, while insisting that Cuba is peaceful and wants peace. The United States recently added sanctions against Fidel Ernesto Castro, the grandson of former Cuban leader Raúl Castro, along with five Cuban state-linked entities.

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Cuba is not a threat, the embargo is the threat. We are a peaceful country, we want peace, and we deserve peace.