Cuban Ambassador calls for lifting of energy blockade imposed by the U.S.

Cuba's national power grid collapsed, marking the second total blackout in a week amid a severe energy crisis that has turned power outages into a daily reality in Havana, Cuba. File | Photo Credit: Reuters The oil blockade that the United States imposed against Cuba has affected all sectors of the Cuban economy and has delivered a “collective punishment” against the Cuban population, said Cuban ambassador to India Juan Carlos Marsan Aguilera on Saturday (July 18, 2026).In a written response to questions from The Hindu, Mr. Aguilera said the blockade has created a humanitarian crisis for Cuba, where frequent power cuts have led to cascading effects on all sectors of the economy, like agriculture and the medical sector, where more than a lakh critical surgeries have been postponed because of the collapsing health system.“The oil blockade has become a collective punishment to the Cuban population because the shortage of oil is affecting the Cuban economy, especially in electricity supply — why Cuba is suffering frequent blackouts — in the healthcare system, in water supply, food production, transportation, education and many other sectors,” he said.Mr. Aguilera’s remarks come against the backdrop of Iran once again blocking the Strait of Hormuz after renewed hostilities with the U.S. since the funeral of the late Ali Khamenei.West Asia war LIVEIn January 2025, after his return to power, President Donald Trump re-designated Cuba on the list of countries that “supposedly sponsor terrorism” and on January 29, 2026, imposed a blockade on the flow of oil to Cuba. On May 1, the order was further tightened to prevent companies from conducting business with Cuba. The Cuban Ambassador said the curbs have imposed “unprecedented suffering” on Cuban society.“In health, we are facing more than 1,00,000 pending medical surgeries, with 11,000 children among them; infant mortality has increased from 4.0 to 9.9 per 1,000 live births in the last year; the survival rate for children with cancer has declined from 85% to 65%,” Ambassador Aguilera said, arguing that no country had the right to impose unilateral energy blockades. Published - July 18, 2026 10:31 pm IST