The United States’ decades-long blockade of Cuba is not merely a policy disagreement—it is illegal under international law and constitutes an act of collective punishment against a civilian population. In Havana, 21-year-old Jorge Pérez Álvarez requires a ventilator to breathe. With nationwide blackouts now routine due to Cuba’s fuel shortages, his mother fears for his life. “His life depends on electricity,” she said.

Caused directly by the US blockade, the fuel crisis has triggered daily blackouts, food shortages, and the collapse of Cuba’s once-renowned universal health care system. Doctors report preventable deaths are mounting. Dr. Alioth Fernandez, chief anesthesiologist at Havana’s largest pediatric hospital, stated: “I can’t tell you how many deaths, but I’m sure there are more than in the same period last year.”

For over six decades, the US has maintained this illegal embargo, suffocating an entire nation. The price is measured not in politics, but in the lives of innocent people.

janus