US Blockade Caused US$178.7 Bln In Cumulative Losses For Cuba - Ambassador

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 14 (Bernama) -- Cuba has incurred more than US$178.7 billion in cumulative losses from the blockade by the United States (US), with damages estimated at US$8.083 billion between March 2025 and February 2026, Cuban Ambassador to Malaysia Yadira Ledesma Hernández said.

She said the decades-long economic, commercial, and financial restrictions, intensified by measures targeting fuel supplies, had inflicted severe hardship on the Cuban population and threatened the country’s ability to sustain essential services.

“The drastic disruption of vital energy resources is having devastating repercussions on the daily lives of millions of Cuban families,” she said in a statement to Bernama.

Ledesma Hernández said the restrictions had resulted in severe power outages, prolonged interruptions to potable water distribution, disruptions to public transportation, and a dangerous impact on the production and supply of medicines, with consequences for public health.

“Blocking access to energy is not merely an economic or political measure; it is an illegitimate and disproportionate manoeuvre that directly threatens the nation’s survival,” she said.

Havana has also condemned US measures targeting countries supplying fuel to Cuba, arguing that threats of tariffs against third countries and restrictions on international suppliers and shipping companies constitute illegal extraterritorial coercion.

The Cuban government maintains that the measures violate international law and undermine the principles of national sovereignty and self-determination, while UN human rights experts have raised concerns over the humanitarian consequences of unilateral sanctions.

At the 80th session of the UN General Assembly in October 2025, 165 member states voted in favour of a resolution calling for an end to the US economic, commercial, and financial blockade against Cuba.

She noted that during the UN general debate held last month in New York, 43 heads of state, heads of government, and heads of delegation publicly rejected the unilateral “coercive measures” against Cuba, and called for the lifting of the blockade.

Ledesma Hernández said Cuba’s international support reflected opposition to foreign interference and the extraterritorial application of coercive laws, citing solidarity among the Non-Aligned Movement, the Group of 77 plus China, ASEAN, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and other regional groupings.

“No one can judge a country's performance while keeping it under an economic, financial, and energy blockade meticulously designed to hinder its comprehensive development,” she said.

Despite the escalating pressure, she said Cuba remained willing to engage in respectful dialogue while defending its sovereignty and its people’s right to peace, adding that supporting Cuba’s right to exist was also about upholding the principles underpinning the international system.

-- BERNAMA