Radio Cadena Agramonte emisiora de Camagüey
Havana, Oct. 2 – US measures against Cuba are having a strong negative impact on the island's energy system, according to a report published today by electronic media.
The digital newspaper Cubadebate addresses this topic in a wide-ranging article reflecting official data from the country.
The publication indicates that Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla recently presented the updated national report on the effects of the economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the United States.
This update covers the period from March 2024 to February 2025. The document reveals the devastating impact this unilateral Washington policy has on Cuba's economy.
In his presentation, the head of Cuban diplomacy explained how this policy affects the daily life of every Cuban—hindering the nation's socioeconomic development—and emphasized the blockade’s effect on the energy sector.
According to the report, from March 2024 to February 2025, the blockade caused estimated material losses of 7.5561 billion dollars, a 49 percent increase compared to the previous period.
This increase is mainly attributed to the drop in export revenues and financial persecution that hinders international transactions.
He insists on reminding everyone that Cuba has once again been included on the infamous list of states that allegedly sponsor terrorism, which makes it a risk country for any transaction, business, or investment.
The United States blockade of Cuba consists of a set of measures of economic coercion and aggression that entail genocidal conduct, aimed at causing suffocation and immobility, thus hindering Cuban socioeconomic development.
It is a unilateral policy that violates all norms of international law and constitutes a flagrant violation of the human rights of all Cubans.
At current prices, the accumulated damages from the impact of this policy amount to more than $170.677 billion.
Taking into account the value of gold on the international market, to avoid fluctuations in the dollar value, the accumulated losses exceed $2.103 billion (more than $2.1 trillion), an extraordinary figure for any economy.
He points out that the energy sector in particular is one of the hardest hit.
The official indicates that it is not possible to express in figures the emotional damage, anguish, suffering, and deprivation that the blockade generates in Cuban families.
This has been the case for several generations, as more than 80 percent of Cubans on the island were born after the blockade began, he said.
And he gave another example: Five days of blockade are equivalent to the funding needed to repair some of the thermoelectric plants, such as the Antonio Guiteras plant in Matanzas or the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes plant in Cienfuegos.
He added that a few weeks ago, the Cienfuegos thermoelectric plant suffered directly from the blockade when an industrialized country, a friend of Cuba, was unable to provide technical assistance for a repair.
This refusal arose on the grounds that the requested assistance would contain more than 10 percent U.S. components.
Furthermore, five days of blockade, he emphasized, prevent funding for the repair of a thermoelectric plant, whose cost is around $100 million.
He insisted that 12 days of blockade represent the annual maintenance budget for the national electrical energy system: $250 million, among a long list of facts and data to argue the impact on the energy system.
And the message concluded by stating that these measures against Cuba are not an excuse, but rather a deliberate policy of economic strangulation that seeks to generate social discontent and weaken national sovereignty.
On October 28 and 29, the United Nations General Assembly will consider the draft resolution entitled "Necessity of ending the economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba." (Text and photo: PL)
