Being unable to freely import what is needed.
The bloqueo against Cuba is a crime
But the United States says the bloqueo does not exist.
For 64 years, the US has decided what can enter Cuba: money, goods, ships.
The intent
The bloqueo was imposed on Cuba by the United States in 1962 to bring the country to its knees.
6 April 1960. A confidential State Department memorandum puts the aim in writing. Deny money and supplies, lower wages, bring about hunger and desperation, overthrow the government. On the first page, the Yes box is initialled by hand.
...makes the greatest inroads in denying money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government.
‘...makes the greatest inroads in denying money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government.’
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What it means
For a Latin American island, being blockaded by the US means:
Being unable to receive payments in dollars.
Paying more because goods and supplies have to come from further away.
Examples
A product with more than ten per cent US components cannot be sold to Cuba. It requires a licence from Washington. Wherever it is made.
De minimis rule · 10 per centA transfer in dollars passes through a correspondent bank in New York. That step triggers US law, which blocks it.
Dollar clearing · New YorkThe example
Four hundred patients are waiting for a pacemaker that cannot arrive. United States law forbids it.
How do you blockade an island?
Pacemakers contain US components, and selling them to Cuba would require a licence from Washington. This applies to any manufacturer, in any country. In 2025, four hundred patients at Havana’s Institute of Cardiology did not receive the pacemakers they were waiting for.
The US law that imposes it: Cuban Assets Control Regulations · 31 CFR 515 · Think Global Health
It is also a logistics problem. A ship that trades at a Cuban port cannot load or unload goods in the United States for 180 days. Under any flag. This applies even to a ship that stopped in Cuba only for maintenance.
The US law that imposes it: Cuban Democracy Act · 1992 · section 1706 · OFAC FAQ 779
2026
Since January ’26, Trump has made the situation worse
Anyone who sells oil to Cuba faces US sanctions.
-
An executive order threatens tariffs against countries that supply oil to Cuba.
-
A second order freezes the assets of anyone working in Cuba’s energy sector. It applies to anyone, in any country.
-
The Treasury blacklists GAESA, which controls Cuba’s ports. Then CUPET, which imports the oil. Anyone dealing with them risks the same sanctions.
The effects
All this causes power cuts, but also:
+148%
infant mortality: from 4.0 to 9.9 per thousand live births, between 2018 and 2025.
95,555
surgical procedures on the waiting list as at 9 June 2026; 5,152 are oncology procedures.
−93%
public passenger transport, between January and September 2025.
2.7 million
people without water every day: the water system runs on 37 per cent of the fuel it needs.
Since 13 December 2025, Cuba has recorded no fuel imports: the UN reports it.
In June 2026, more than
2,900 tonnes of UN food aid remained blocked.
No logistics operator is willing to risk US sanctions.
The method
The United States is intimidating other countries into not selling oil to Cuba
Two of the world’s leading shipping operators, CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd, suspend shipments to Cuba. No law requires them to: the risk is enough.
How long would you survive?
Trump is fierce, but the latest in a long line
Sixty-six years of US policy against Cuba
Eisenhower had already signed: a zero sugar quota, December 1960. Kennedy signed the total embargo in February 1962, and it remains in force.
Eisenhower1953-19611960: his State Department writes down the aim.
Kennedy1961-19631962: Proclamation 3447 bans all imports from Cuba.
Carter1977-19811977: travel to Cuba becomes possible again.
Reagan1981-19891982: Cuba is added to the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
George H. W. Bush1989-19931992: foreign subsidiaries are also barred from selling to Cuba.
Clinton1993-20011996: only Congress can lift the bloqueo.
George W. Bush2001-20092004: one family visit every three years.
Obama2009-20172015: he removes Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Trump2017-20212021: he puts Cuba back on the list of state sponsors of terrorism, eight days before leaving office.
Biden2021-2025He eases restrictions on flights, remittances and banking services. On 13 September 2024, he renews for one year the powers underpinning the sanctions.- Trumpsince 20252026: sanctions on anyone who sells oil to Cuba.
Eleven presidents have altered the bloqueo. None has dismantled it.
64 years of measures, one on top of another.
What the world does
What does the world do?
The world stands against the bloqueo. Every year since 1992, the UN General Assembly has voted to end it. The resolution passes by an overwhelming majority.
But the resolution does not bind: only the United States Congress can lift the bloqueo.
The General Assembly calls for an end to the bloqueo, recalling freedom of trade and navigation.
165 countries against the bloqueo
yes · 165
no · 7
abstentions · 12
not voting · 9
In 2025, 19 countries vote against or abstain. Twelve are European.
See the twelve
Against: Hungary, North Macedonia, Ukraine.
Abstentions: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czechia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania.
The other seven are not European: the United States, Israel, Argentina and Paraguay voted against; Costa Rica, Ecuador and Morocco abstained.
The words
They call it an embargo; it is a bloqueo. And genocide too.
Embargo describes trade suspended between two states. Bloqueo describes a system that stops Cuba buying and selling, with third countries too.
Those who impose it say
embargo.
We call it
bloqueo.
Those who live under it say
genocide.
Genocide is not our word: it is used by governments and Latin American intellectuals.
Questions
Why do we say bloqueo and not embargo?
Embargo describes trade suspended between two states. Bloqueo describes a system that reaches third countries too: ships, banks and companies worldwide.
Is the bloqueo against Cuba legal?
For the United States, yes: it is federal law. For the UN General Assembly, no. It has called for an end to the bloqueo every year since 1992, and in 2025 the vote was 165 countries out of 193.
Who is behind this page?
A collective of Italians who are friends of Cuba. The working method is documented on the Sources page.
How do you check what you write?
Primary documents for facts. Press and analysis only as corroboration. What does not hold is dropped, not softened.
Now
The aim is the one typed in 1960: hunger, desperation, overthrow.
256.31 dollars per second: what the bloqueo costs Cuba.
256.31
dollars per second, the cost to Cuba
38.05
dollars per second, the cost to the United States
A negligible sum for the world’s largest economy. Not for an island of nine million people.
Cuba reported 8,083 million dollars in damage for 2025-2026, a figure submitted to the UN.
Get an update when the wall grows
Sources, section by section
Every figure on this page has a verifiable source. The sources are collected on a dedicated page, section by section. The story remains readable and the evidence remains open to scrutiny.
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