HAVANA — Cuba is not currently engaged in negotiations with the United States, and no agenda exists for future talks, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez announced Monday during a media conference on the economic impact of the U.S. embargo.
The Cuban government estimates the embargo cost its economy $8 billion between March 2025 and February 2026, the highest annual cost recorded and a seven percent increase from the previous year. The embargo has been in place since 1959, following Fidel Castro's communist revolution.
Rodríguez said the $8 billion figure does not account for recent U.S. sanctions, including restrictions on Cuba's energy supply imposed in January and secondary sanctions enacted in May.
He described the embargo as "economic asphyxiation" and a "genocidal" blockade. Rodríguez detailed the energy crisis's toll on daily life, saying Cubans have endured "long months of living with only two or three hours of electricity per day or less." Food spoils without refrigeration, parents fan infants through intense heat, children attempt schoolwork in darkness, and young people lack internet access, he said.
"All family life is damaged," Rodríguez said, adding that Cuba poses no threat but the blockade does.
He labeled the situation "collective punishment" and blamed what he termed a U.S. "energy siege" and "extreme tightening of the blockade."
Tensions between Washington and Havana have intensified under President Donald Trump. Officials held talks earlier this year, but those contacts have since ceased.
Rodríguez said the General Assembly will address its annual resolution calling for an end to the embargo on Oct. 27 and 28. He accused Washington of exerting "extraordinary pressure and intimidation" on other UN member states ahead of the vote but said Cuba anticipates "overwhelming support" for the resolution.
