Infant Mortality Rates in Cuba Spike Due to U.S. Sanctions

Providing more data for what we already know to be true only validates how unilateral U.S. sanctions kill, mostly children, every day

Photo by Christian Bowen on Unsplash

Between 2017 and 2021, during Trump’s first term, his administration imposed a “maximum pressure” campaign on Cuba and Venezuela. Not only did the sanctions that were part of Trump’s foreign policy lead to mass migration out of both countries, but according to a new report by the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), they also caused the infant mortality rate (IMR) in Cuba to spike 148% from 2018 to 2025.

The report highlights how Cuba’s decades-long investments in healthcare services led Cuba to have the lowest IMR in the Western Hemisphere, even lower than in the U.S. However, since 2018, Cuba’s IMR “has increased from an annual rate of 4.0 per 1000 live births to a rate of 9.9 as of 2025.” The paper also noted how the sanctions have prevented Cuba from recovering economically from the pandemic, showing limited growth from 2020 to 2024.

“The Trump policy of ‘maximum pressure’ on Cuba has killed a lot of babies – and, although we don’t yet have data for the last few months, it’s highly likely that more babies are dying now, and at an even higher rate than last year as a result of the current US fuel blockade targeting Cuba,” CEPR Director of International Policy and report coauthor Alexander Main said. “The question is how many more babies will have to die before the current economic siege against Cuba is lifted.”

The escalation during Trump’s current term is creating a humanitarian crisis on the island, particularly around Cuba’s healthcare system, which had already been hit hard by Trump’s 2017 sanctions. The current oil blockade is already showing signs of disproportionately impacting pregnant women, children, and the elderly, putting them at the greatest risk. With transportation systems crippled, many in Cuba have no access to needed medications or treatments.

Countless studies have been done on the impacts of sanctions. Last summer, The Lancet Global Health published a report highlighting how more than 500,000 people were killed each year between 1971 and 2021 by U.S. and European Union sanctions. In 2024, another study was published highlighting the direct and indirect effects of sanctions on health. Reports and studies such as these have been published for decades, especially regarding one of the longest-sanctioned countries on Earth: Cuba.

“US sanctions have targeted Cuba’s key sources of export earnings, such as tourism, remittances from Cuban Americans to their family members, and even by putting pressure on other countries to end primary care programs staffed by Cuban doctors. These measures sharply reduced Cuba’s capacity to pay for needed food and medicines,” CEPR International Research Fellow and coauthor Joe Sammut said. “Cutting off medical services exports is doubly cruel, as these programs mostly serve marginalized communities in poorer countries, while bringing in foreign currency revenues to Cuba in a mutually beneficial trade. As such, the increasing US sanctions have a negative health-care spillover even beyond the island of 10 million people.”

The report discusses how recent research supports the idea that the broad unilateral economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. are as deadly as armed conflict. More than half of the deaths caused by sanctions are children under five, and deaths of infants are even more disproportionate, “since they are three-quarters of the under-five population,” as noted by The Lancet.

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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 outlets such as Unicorn Riot, The Antagonist Magazine, Latino Rebels, and more. Arturo is also on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, and Threads. To support his work, become a paid subscriber or donate via Venmo, PayPal, or Cash App.