Cuba’s government says the U.S. embargo caused more than $8 billion in damage in a single year.
Its latest report to the United Nations describes surgeons working under the light of a cell phone, a mother worrying about her son’s cancer treatment being interrupted and children waiting for vaccines that are stuck in warehouses.
This week, we look at how the U.S. government's economic war on Cuba affects everyday life on the island.
Also:
A Senate Candidate Visits Cuba — and Speaks Out
A Mother Builds the Workplace Her Son Couldn’t Find
Rubio Sanctions Cuban Bank, Oil and Mining Companies
U.S. Warns of Health Crisis Its Policies Created
Cuba Documents Another Year of Economic Siege
At a maternity hospital in Cuba, anesthesiologist Dr. Yudmila Rodríguez Verdecia describes what happens when electricity fails during an operation.
“The surgery cannot be stopped. We have had to keep operating under the glow of cell phone flashlights,” she says in Cuba’s latest annual report to the United Nations.
The Cuban government calculates that U.S. economic warfare caused $8.083 billion in damage between March 2025 and February 2026, bringing its estimate of the cumulative cost of U.S. policy since Cuba’s 1959 revolution to $178.7 billion.
Watch Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla explain the damages HERE.
In addition to the six-decade-old embargo, the report points to a web of financial restrictions, the State Sponsors of Terrorism designation, the 1996 Helms-Burton Act and a de facto oil blockade that restrict access to essential goods and services.
Licet Rodríguez Alonso, who accompanies her son Diego between Villa Clara and Havana for cancer care, says fuel shortages from the U.S. oil blockade make her worry if his treatment can continue.
“Diego is in radiation [therapy], but there’s no fuel,” she says. “How will those machines run?”
Other medical supplies are already in Cuba but cannot reliably reach patients. According to the report, more than 30,000 children have been unable to receive vaccinations on schedule because fuel shortages have disrupted refrigerated transport, leaving medications stuck in warehouses.
The lack of fuel also affects food production. During the growing season ending in early 2026, irrigation operated for an average of just two hours a day rather than the 16 hours needed, the report says.
Meanwhile, UN agencies cited in the report describe disrupted shipments of more than 2,900 metric tons of food aid and $630,000 worth of medical supplies.
Shipping companies Hapag-Lloyd (Germany) and CMA CGM (France) stopped accepting new shipments to Cuba following Trump’s May 1 executive order threatening “secondary sanctions” on foreign companies doing business with blacklisted Cuban entities.
The report also identifies obstacles to buying and maintaining medical equipment. It says that due to payment restrictions and sanctions threats, the price of Japanese-made Olympus endoscopy equipment costs ten times more in Cuba than in other Latin American countries.
Baxter Healthcare (U.S.) and Vitalmex Interamericana (Mexico) cited the blockade in refusing to continue doing business with Cuba, while U.S.-made cardiac pumps remain “out of reach” to children with severe heart conditions.
The report describes a shortage of working Braille machines for blind students. Meanwhile, deaf students are unable to access cochlear implants because of broken components or missing batteries.
As independent media outlets face growing pressure, your support matters more than ever.
If you value journalism that challenges powerful interests and tells stories about Cuba that you won't find elsewhere, please subscribe to our Patreon.
Paid subscribers get early access to stories about Cuba you won’t find anywhere else, as well as exclusive screenings, behind-the-scenes content and direct contact with Belly of the Beast’s journalists.
That’s how Greg Levy, an independent socialist candidate for the U.S. Senate in Ohio, described U.S. policy toward Cuba after visiting the island.
In an interview with Belly of the Beast’s Liz Oliva Fernández, Levy recalls visiting an assisted living facility in a rural Cuban town that had no electricity.
“This is life or death,” he said. “And the American people need to know that this is so wrong.”
Levy, a military veteran and organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, also discusses his working-class upbringing, his decision to run outside the Democratic Party and why he is not afraid to speak out about Cuba.
“I will not move out of fear,” he says. “We have to do what is necessary.”
Watch Liz Oliva Fernández’s full interview with Levy HERE.
A Mother Built the Workplace Her Son Couldn’t Find
When Mariolis Escobar Fitó couldn’t find a business willing to employ her son Liván, who has Down syndrome, she decided to create one.
Escobar founded Liva Café in Havana, where people with intellectual disabilities and autism gain work experience and build relationships with support from specialists in psychology and special education.
Cuba has long had policies supporting employment for people with disabilities. But as psychologist Giselle Álvarez González explains in our latest video, employers are often reluctant to hire people who need additional training and support.
“This is the first place where no one bullies me,” said Karel Pineda Sotomayor, a Liva worker.
Working at the café has also helped Karel manage his anxiety.
“At Liva, they’re bringing out the best in my son,” said his mother.
Meet Liván, Karel and their coworkers in our video HERE.
Nicarotec and CEXNI, both designated last week, provide the technical services, machinery, raw materials and replacement equipment that Cuba’s mining industry needs to keep running.
Foreign manufacturers, shipping companies and banks that work with either company now risk “secondary sanctions” for doing business with blacklisted Cuban entities under Trump’s May 1 executive order. Sanctioning these entities could make it harder for Cuban mining operations to develop deposits and import specialized equipment.
Last week’s measures also target Cuba’s oil industry.
Comercial CUPET and ABAPET support Unión CUPET, Cuba’s state-owned oil and gas company, which was sanctioned by the Trump administration in June.
Comercial CUPET represents Unión CUPET in negotiations and joint ventures with foreign partners, while ABAPET imports equipment and supplies for the oil industry.
Since the U.S. imposed an oil blockade on Cuba in January, the island has become increasingly dependent on domestic oil production. But Cuba can only produce about 40 percent of its domestic fuel needs.
By sanctioning companies that negotiate foreign energy projects and import vital equipment and spare parts, Washington is choking off Cuba’s oil supplies while reducing its capacity to refine domestic crude.
The measures threaten to deepen fuel shortages that have disrupted electricity generation, transportation, agriculture and essential services across the island.
U.S. Warns of Health Crisis Its Policies Created
The U.S. Embassy in Havana issued a health alert on September 4 warning U.S. citizens of increased intestinal illnesses and diarrhea across Cuba due to deteriorating water and electricity infrastructure.
“This degradation affects water supply, and food storage and temperature control,” the embassy said.
The warning neglected to mention that U.S. policy helped cause the deteriorating infrastructure.
The Trump administration is blockading the fuel needed to pump water, refrigerate food and collect garbage — creating the very problems the embassy cites in its warning to U.S. citizens.
Cuba’s latest report to the UN provides a concrete example. In June, Havana’s water utility announced longer intervals between deliveries because fuel shortages were disrupting electricity at its water sources.
Watch how Cubans are surviving endless blackouts HERE.
Truly independent media relies on support from readers and viewers like you. Whether through a tax-deductible donation or by joining our Patreon, you can help us continue producing independent, on-the-ground reporting about Cuba that you won’t find anywhere else.
Every contribution — big or small — strengthens our journalism. Thank you for being part of our community.
Boletines en Español | English Newsletters Archives El gobierno cubano afirma que el embargo estadounidense causó más de 8.000 millones de dólares en daños en un solo año. Su último informe a las Naciones Unidas describe a cirujanos operando bajo la luz de un teléfono móvil, a una madre preocupada por la posible interrupción del tratamiento oncológico de su hijo y a niños que esperan vacunas retenidas en almacenes. Esta semana analizamos cómo la guerra económica del gobierno estadounidense...
Boletines en Español | English Newsletters Archives Casi 1,4 millones de estudiantes cubanos regresaron a clases el martes después de un largo y sofocante verano. Los padres se levantaron antes del amanecer, prepararon los almuerzos y plancharon los uniformes escolares mientras lidiaban con la escasez y los apagones de varias horas causados por el bloqueo petrolero de la administración Trump. Esta semana, les mostramos cómo es el primer día de clases en Cuba y el extraordinario esfuerzo que...
English Newsletters Archives | Boletines en Español Nearly 1.4 million Cuban students returned to school Tuesday after a long, sweltering summer. Parents rose before dawn, packed lunches and ironed school uniforms while navigating shortages and hours-long blackouts caused by the Trump administration’s oil blockade. This week, we take you inside Cuba’s first day of school — and the extraordinary effort families and teachers are making to keep children learning. Also: Portraits of Life in a...
