Cuban Foreign Minister: "U.S. Blockade Caused Nearly 11 Trillion Won in Damage; No Plans for Negotiations"

[Financial News] Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, Cuba’s foreign minister, claimed on the 7th local time that Cuba had suffered more than $8 billion in economic damage over the past year due to the United States’ intensified blockade.
At a press conference in Havana that day to release the “Report on the Damage Caused by the U.S. Blockade Against Cuba,” Foreign Minister Rodríguez made the claim and condemned the United States’ sanctions policy as “genocide.”
According to the report, the damage caused by the United States’ unilateral sanctions from March 2025 to February 2026 totaled $8.0833 billion, up 7% from the previous year and equivalent to approximately 10.9 trillion won.
Because this estimate predates the full-scale blockade imposed by the United States after the capture and transfer of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro Moros, the damage from this year through next year is expected to grow further. The United States announced on the 25th of last month that it would extend sanctions against Cuba for another year.
Minister Rodríguez emphasized, "Life with electricity available for only two to three hours a day, food that spoils, and children doing their homework in pitch darkness are now part of everyday life in Cuban households. The blockade is punishing the lives of all Cuban people, not the government."
The energy crisis is threatening not only people’s livelihoods but also the healthcare system and medical infrastructure. In Cuba, fuel for emergency generators in operating rooms has run out, forcing medical staff to perform surgeries by the light of mobile phones. Many people also fail to receive timely treatment because of shortages of essential medical supplies, including alcohol swabs.
As a result, the number of infant deaths per 1,000 live births rose from four in 2018 to 9.9 in 2025, more than doubling.
Despite these hardships, no dialogue has taken place between the two countries to lift the blockade. Minister Rodríguez said, "Although there has been no progress, we remain willing to maintain contact, but there are no negotiations or agenda items."
With the Cuban government unable to open a channel for dialogue, it plans to seek support from the international community at the United Nations. According to the state-run media outlet CubaDebate, the Cuban government will submit a resolution calling for an end to the blockade against Cuba at the United Nations General Assembly on October 28 and appeal for international support.
Meanwhile, the United States Department of State did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment on Minister Rodríguez’s remarks. The U.S. government has maintained that sanctions are unavoidable to encourage a change in Cuba’s communist government, criticizing it for suppressing the human rights and economic rights of its people.

[email protected] Lee Seok-woo, International Affairs Specialist Reporter