Cuba accuses United States of intensified economic blockade and energy sanctions at UN

Cuba lodged a formal complaint during the 66th preparatory session of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization, arguing that recent U.S. actions have deepened the island’s long‑standing economic blockade. Havana says Washington has halted all oil shipments, forced wider power outages, and compelled hospitals to curtail services, leading to longer surgery wait‑lists and higher mortality. The United States also placed Cuba’s state oil firm CUPET on the OFAC sanctions list and added the country to the U.S. State Sponsors of Terrorism roster, limiting access to international scientific data and technical cooperation.

At a United Nations Human Rights Council meeting, Cuban diplomat Ivette Lamigueiro Cañedo denounced what she described as a combined military threat and an “energy siege” that endangers children, the elderly, pregnant women and people with disabilities. She warned that the U.S. policy seeks to provoke a humanitarian crisis and called for a broad international coalition to prevent further aggression against Cuba.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz‑Canel echoed the accusations, portraying the U.S. measures as imperialist and likening them to “the rebirth of fascism.”