As Cuba’s electrical grid failed, much of the U.S. corporate media’s reporting on the grid’s collapse is leaving two key details out of the story: the U.S. is using collective punishment and starvation as weapons, which led to island-wide blackouts. As the situation in Cuba deteriorates and much of the corporate media glosses over the root cause of the problem, if they report on it at all, the Cuban government is reporting more critical issues beginning to arise.
Shortly after the oil embargo began, there were reports about at-risk groups, such as pregnant women, children under the age of one who need special care, special needs children of every age, and the elderly, who are in danger due to blackouts. The situation has grown more dire as the Cuban government reported that tens of thousands have had surgeries postponed and that thousands of dialysis patients are at serious risk of death without access to their treatments.
According to the Cuban government, there are 57 dialysis units in the country, serving more than 3,000 patients who require renal replacement therapy. The process for patients starts with a taxi that picks them up at home and takes them to treatment centers. That process, along with the movement of medical supplies and staff, is crippled by fuel shortages. But it doesn’t end there. Prices for most basic goods are spiking across the island as transport becomes more difficult and more expensive each day.
The country is now falling into an intentionally deepening “humanitarian threat” knowingly created by U.S. President Donald Trump. The compounding effects of it have forced hospitals to suspend services, and schools and businesses to close. Shortages of gasoline and diesel have crippled the country’s transport systems, food distribution networks, and even its diesel-powered water pumps. Cooking gas shortages are also affecting the island as food spoils in refrigerators.
Meanwhile, Cuban American hardliners in Congress have been vocal in support of Trump’s collective punishment against the Cuban people. Florida Reps. Carlos Gimenez, Maria Elvira Salazar, and Mario Diaz-Balart have applauded the efforts to inflict barbaric suffering and have pushed for even harsher punishment. Others, such as Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), have praised Trump’s unilateral actions, while many on both sides of the political aisle remain silent.
However, several Democrats have denounced the measures and are in support of lifting sanctions. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Ruben Gallego (D-TX) introduced a War Powers Resolution to prevent the president from taking military action against Cuba. Senators Ed Markey (D-MA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) demanded an end to “crushing sanctions” in February, just days after McGovern introduced the United States-Cuba Trade Act, a bill to repeal the economic embargo of Cuba.
“America has had an embargo against Cuba for sixty years. And for sixty years, we have been waiting for that embargo to do what politicians in Washington claim it will do—deliver freedom or democracy to the people of Cuba. It has failed,” said McGovern in February. “It’s time to throw away the old, obsolete, failed policies of the past and try something different. Let’s focus on the people of Cuba—and let’s treat them like human beings who want to live their lives in dignity and freedom. The Cuban people—not politicians in Washington—ought to decide their own leaders and their own future.”
In February, Reps. Delia Ramirez (D-IL) and Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) introduced the New Good Neighbors Act, a bill that seeks to annul the Monroe Doctrine and replace it with a New Good Neighbor policy. Other Democrats who have spoken out include Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Chuy Garcia (D-IL), and Madeleine Dean (D-PA).
House Minority Leader Hakeen Jeffries (D-NY) labeled the administration as “out of control” in early January and warned against military intervention in Colombia, Greenland, and Cuba, but has been largely silent about the oil blockade. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) criticized both parties for ceding war power to the president while naming Cuba as a potential target, and not much else. Aside from the aforementioned Democrats, much of the party has been silent, often only villainizing Trump and not speaking on the impacts of his brutal polices against Cubans.
New reporting indicates that the White House is seeking to handle Cuba like it did Venezuela, that is, depose Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez and keep the current government in place, suggesting Trump may have sidelined Cuban American hardliners. While Cuba continues to recover from Hurricane Melissa in October 2025, for which the U.S. offered little assistance, the already beleaguered nation can’t withstand much more stress.
Today, a 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Guantanamo.
With no movement in Congress regarding Cuba, and with the news media ecosystem glossing over the cause of the crisis, it’s no wonder the public remains largely unaware of what the United States is doing to the island nation. Now, decades of anti-Cuba propaganda are being weaponized across social media to rationalize the harm being done by hardline U.S. policies that ignore human life; to justify the killing of Cubans on the island as the world watches.
Arturo is an independent freelance journalist. He has written hundreds of articles on policing, immigration, race, and Latin America. His work has been featured in U.S. outlets such as Unicorn Riot, Latino Rebels, Capitol Press, Momentum, and abroad. He is the Editor-in-Chief at the Antagonist Magazine and is a co-leader of the Writers and Editors of Color.
You always give me new ways of seeing. I have always felt that our treatment of Cuba has been a failed policy that no one has addressed. Not only have you put human faces to the harm we are doing, but you are also educating me about the politics behind the cruelty. The hard right Cubans in this country are wielding a tremendous power with financial support of candidates who will do what they want. Does this remind anyone else of AIPAC, the Jewish American group backing the Netanyahu government? How about we get money out of politics and start treating people with respect?
The people are a footnote in the reporting of the press. Heartbreaking. May relief for the Cuban people come quick.