• Sanctions don’t hurt the government. They hurt the people. 

Sanctions block food, fuel, medicine, spare parts. Between March 2023 and February 2024, the U.S. blockade cost Cuba over $5.05 billion. That’s $14 million per day in losses. Even humanitarian donations are often stopped because banks, suppliers, and shipping companies fear U.S. penalties. This overcompliance creates a chilling effect that cuts off access to essential goods. The result: empty pharmacy shelves, hospital blackouts, and children left without care. These are not unintended consequences, they are built into the structure of the policy.

• The State Sponsor of Terrorism (SSOT) designation is economic warfare. 

Cuba’s place on the “State Sponsor of Terrorism” list cuts it off from the global banking system. After Trump put Cuba back on the list in 2021, over 400 banks severed ties. No payments for fuel. No wire transfers for medicine. Even donated antibiotics get trapped. This designation is not based on current evidence of terrorist activity, but it has real and devastating consequences for the Cuban population. It isolates the country economically, undermines healthcare and infrastructure, and blocks aid.

• Remittances are an economic lifeline.

Before new restrictions were imposed under the Trump administration, Cuban-Americans sent over $3.5 billion a year to family members in Cuba, that’s nearly 13% of GDP. These funds covered essential expenses like food, medicine, rent, and caregiving. Now 1.5 million families are cut off. Using remittances as a tool of pressure does not target government elites. It punishes the very families U.S. officials claim to support.

• Travel restrictions hurt Cuban families.

Tourism made up 10% of Cuba’s GDP, supporting over 500,000 jobs, many held by women and youth. Every blocked visa, canceled cruise, or banned flight translates into lost income for families who depend on tourism to survive. From taxi drivers and tour guides to private guesthouses and family-run restaurants, the economic fallout hits everyday people not government officials. Restricting travel to Cuba only undermines livelihoods and deepens hardship for those already facing economic strain.

• U.S.-funded ‘Democracy’ Programs in Cuba continue a legacy of destabilization

For decades, the U.S. government has allocated millions of dollars annually through agencies like USAID (U.S. Agency for International Development) and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) to fund regime change programs in Cuba. These funds are used to support opposition groups, dissident media, and political training initiatives, often without transparency or the consent of the Cuban people. While these programs are framed as promoting democracy or civil society, their stated objective is to undermine the Cuban government and influence domestic political outcomes, a practice that would be considered foreign interference or subversion if carried out by another country inside the United States.

• Engagement works. Sanctions don’t. 

During the period of normalization under the Obama administration (2014 - 2016), the U.S. eased restrictions on travel, remittances, and commercial engagement with Cuba. The results were immediate and measurable: families reunited, small private businesses expanded, internet access improved, and official bilateral dialogues were established on issues like environmental protection and law enforcement cooperation. This brief period of engagement demonstrated that constructive diplomacy, not economic punishment, was more effective at fostering change and improving life for the Cuban people. After more than 60 years of embargo, the evidence is clear: sanctions have failed to achieve their stated goals.

• The blockade is a women’s issue. 

According to Oxfam, 78% of Cuban women alive today have never known life without U.S. sanctions. These women disproportionately bear the burden of scarcity caused by restrictions on food, medicine, and essential goods. As primary caregivers, they are often the ones waiting in long lines for basic supplies, stretching household resources, and providing unpaid care for children, the elderly, and the sick. The emotional and physical toll of this daily survival work is immense. Any serious conversation about women’s rights must acknowledge how economic sanctions systematically undermine the well-being and dignity of Cuban women.

• The world rejects the blockade. Year after year
  

In October 2024, the United Nations General Assembly voted 187-2 to condemn the U.S. economic blockade of Cuba, casting a near-unanimous verdict that reflected widespread global disapproval. Only the United States and Israel voted against the resolution. This marked yet another year in which the international community has overwhelmingly called for an end to the embargo, a vote that has become an annual rebuke of U.S. policy since 1992. If 187 countries agree your policy is cruel and outdated, maybe it’s time to listen.

• The FORCE Act is a death sentence. 

The FORCE Act (“Fighting Oppression until the Reign of Castro Ends”), introduced by Rep. María Elvira Salazar, aims to make Trump-era sanctions permanent by prohibiting any administration from removing Cuba from the SSOT list without Congressional approval. If enacted, the law would effectively lock in the most extreme measures of the embargo, banning aid, remittances, travel, and trade indefinitely. This would intensify Cuba’s isolation from the international financial system, deepening blackouts, medicine shortages, and family separation for years to come.

• BTW. The “Reign of Castro”? Can someone tell them Fidel is dead and Raúl retired?

There is no “Castro reign.” What remains is a political talking point invoked to justify the continuation of policies that inflict real suffering on living people. By clinging to outdated rhetoric, U.S. lawmakers avoid accountability for the current crisis, which is driven not by Havana, but by Washington.