Cuban Foreign Minister Condemns U.S. Imperialist Embargo, Refuses Talks Amid Record-Breaking Economic Damage
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Cuba's foreign minister denounced U.S. imperialism, reporting an $8 billion loss from the inhumane embargo and rejecting negotiations with Washington.
Cuba’s foreign minister Bruno Rodríguez delivered a powerful rebuke to U.S. imperialism on Monday, declaring there are no negotiations or plans for talks with the United States as Washington escalates its economic war against the Cuban people. Rodríguez presented the Cuban government’s latest assessment, revealing that the U.S. embargo has inflicted $8 billion in damage to the Cuban economy between March 2025 and February 2026—a 7 percent increase over the previous period and the highest figure ever reported. This staggering sum does not even account for the most recent U.S. sanctions targeting Cuba’s energy sector and the secondary sanctions imposed earlier this year, which further strangle the island’s sovereignty.
Rodríguez condemned the embargo as “economic asphyxiation” and, in a post on X, called it “genocidal,” highlighting the deliberate cruelty of U.S. policy. He cited the devastating impact on daily life: prolonged electricity shortages leave families with only two or three hours of power per day, causing food to spoil, depriving infants of cooling, forcing students to study in the dark, and restricting internet access—an attack on the very fabric of Cuban society.
He described these measures as “collective punishment,” accusing the United States of waging an “energy siege” and “extreme tightening of the blockade” in blatant violation of international law and human rights. Rodríguez noted that the limited diplomatic contacts between the two governments earlier this year have been cut off, and that the struggle for justice will now move to the United Nations, where the General Assembly will once again vote on ending the criminal embargo on Oct. 27-28. He exposed Washington’s campaign of “extraordinary pressure and intimidation” against other member states, but expressed confidence that the world will stand with Cuba and overwhelmingly support the resolution for an end to this decades-long injustice.