US sanctions are blocking life-saving relief to Cuba

A fire in a Cuban oil storage facility has killed, injured, and displaced Cubans and exacerbated the country’s energy crisis. Crucial aid efforts have been impeded by US sanctions

Natalia Marques

People’s Dispatch | August 08, 2022

A firefighter near the ongoing Matanzas fire (Photo via David Ramírez Álvarez on Twitter)

On August 5, a major oil storage facility was struck by lightning in the Cuban province of Matanzas, injuring 121, killing one, and leaving 17 firefighters missing. 5,000 people have been evacuated from the surrounding region.

The fire in Matanzas, still blazing as of August 8, is the largest in Cuban history. This fire will only exacerbate the energy crisis in Cuba, which has been racked with high fuel costs and aging infrastructure. Yet US anti-blockade organizations claim that existing US policies make providing humanitarian aid extremely difficult.

Despite the US Embassy in Cuba claiming that “US law authorizes US entities and organizations to provide disaster relief and response in Cuba,” activists say that existing US policy severely restricts any aid to Cuba.

Lula da Silva, Frei Betto, Danny Glover, Susan Sarandon and 400 Progressive Leaders Write Open Letter to Joe Biden: Let Cuba Live!

They stress there is no justification for the United States to continue treating the Cuban people as a national security threat.

teleSUR | July 23, 2021

Citizens take part in a rally to reject U.S. blockade against Cuba, Toronto, Canada, July 19, 2021. | Photo: Twitter/ @ONCommunists

They stress there is no justification for the United States to continue treating the Cuban people as a national security threat.

On Friday, over 400 artists, politicians, intellectuals, and international activists will send a letter to President Joe Biden demanding that he end the blockade against Cuba and improve bilateral relations.

The Only Way to End Economic Hardship in Cuba Is to Lift the US Blockade

Francisco Dominguez

Tribune | July 17, 2021

In an evidently well-coordinated action, on 11 July 2021, groups of opponents of the government staged demonstrations in several Cuban cities, notably Havana. Within seconds of the event the world’s mainstream media, including, of course, the media in the UK, were in full swing magnifying the event.

Such social outburst is an unusual event in Cuba and even more surprising were the intensity and violence deployed by the protestors (vandalism, aggression against officials, attacks on public buildings), reminiscent of similar protests in Venezuela in 2014 and 2017 and Nicaragua in the coup attempt of July 2018.

Cuba Withstands Most Costly Year in the Blockade’s History

IMPERIALIST AGGRESSION AGAINST CUBA

Nuria Barbosa León and Dilbert Reyes Rodríguez

Granma | October 29, 2020

Photo: Falco

For the first time in the history of the genocidal U.S. economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba, the damages and losses caused surpassed a total of five billion dollars in a year’s time, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla reported, October 22.

In the annual report prepared by the Ministry describing the magnitude of damage suffered as a result of this extraterritorial policy, to current and future prospects for development o the island, the Foreign Minister denounced, in an online press conference, the increasing aggressiveness of the U.S. government, which, showing no concern for the COVID-19 pandemic, imposed more sanctions on Cuba, in a flagrant violation of all norms governing foreign trade and investment.

US blocks medical aid to Cuba in show of ‘wild west brutality’

by Steve Sweeney

Morning Star | April 02, 2020

CUBA has blasted the continuing US economic blockade warning of a “violation of human rights” after a shipment of vital medical aid from China was stopped from reaching the country on Tuesday.

Washington was accused of acting with “Wild West brutality,” using the Covid-19 outbreak as an opportunity to “strangle the Cuban Revolution.”

“Cuba denounces the fact that medical supplies from Alibaba Foundation to help combat Covid-19 have not arrived in the country due to the criminal US blockade against the island nation,” President Miguel Canel-Diaz blasted.

No blockade or pressure will deter Cubans

Granma | January 15, 2020

Photo: Estudio Revolución

At a time when imperialism is attempting by all means to prevent the arrival of fuel and other oil derivatives to Cuba, including liquefied gas, the President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, on Monday reviewed the Energy Program, particularly oil development and prospects for the year.

He emphasized the importance of renewable energy resources, especially photovoltaic, noting that the installation of panels on suitable roofs should be a first step, according to the Presidency’s website.

Diaz-Canel also participated in a review of the Railroad Recovery and Development Program, at the Palace of the Revolution, led by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz. Reports indicated that 2019 plans for freight transportation plans were 91% completed, with 852 million tons more than in 2018 transported.

Truth and justice triumph: 187 countries against the U.S. blockade of Cuba

by Madeleine Sautié Rodrígue

Granma | November 08, 2019

Photo: Ricardo López Hevia

A total of 187 countries yesterday cast their votes in favor of Cuba in the United Nations General Assembly, rejecting the unjust economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the United States, for almost 60 years, on an unwavering, dignified people, who do not bow down before domination. An ironic coincidence is that the Trump administration has adopted precisely 187 hostile measures to damage our economy and living conditions.

UN overwhelmingly votes for ending U.S. blockade against Cuba

 Countercurrents | November 08, 2019

12:05 pm The voting process begins.

Result: 187 in favor; 3 against; 2 abstentions

Against: Israel, the United States, Brazil

Abstaining: Colombia and Ukraine

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Thursday overwhelming voted in favor of the resolution demanding ending of the U.S. blockade against Cuba with 187 countries voting in favor, three including the U.S. against while two countries abstained.

Real life and resistance in Venezuela – Ben Norton reports on effects of US blockade Share

The Grayzone | October 11, 2019

Ben Norton speaks about his reporting in Venezuela, where he investigated how bipartisan US sanctions and Trump’s embargo are making lives hell for civilians.

Guest: Ben Norton, journalist from The Grayzone, who just returned from reporting for two months in Venezuela

Cuba vs blockade

by Ana Laura Palomino García and Milagros Pichardo Pérez

Granma | September 27, 2019

Photo: UN-Manuel Elias Photo: 5daysforthecuban5.com

Granma International shares facts and figures from Cuba’s report, presented by Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, on Resolution 73/8 of the United Nations General Assembly

The significant negative impact of measures recently adopted by the U.S. to tighten the blockade is not reflected in the following account, since this escalation occurred after the time period analyzed.