Cuba's foreign minister says no negotiations despite "genocidal" blockade - Reuters

Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez announced that Havana is not currently negotiating with the United States, and there is currently no agenda for future talks. The statement comes as the Trump administration continues its campaign of economic pressure on the island nation, which has been under a U.S. trade embargo since 1962 following former leader Fidel Castro’s communist revolution.

According to a Cuban government report presented on September 7, the U.S. embargo cost Cuba's economy over $8 billion between March 2025 and February 2026. This is the highest figure ever recorded, representing a seven percent increase over the peak recorded in the previous reporting period.

Rodríguez noted that the $8 billion total does not include the financial damage from some of Washington's more recent measures. Specifically, the figure excludes the impact of restrictions placed on the island's energy supply in January, as well as secondary sanctions imposed on Cuban entities in May.

In statements shared on social media, Rodríguez characterized the U.S. policy as one of "economic asphyxiation" and described the decades-old blockade as "genocidal." He argued that the measures do not merely punish the government but instead impact the daily lives of the Cuban people in all aspects, leading to severe shortages of food, fuel, and medicine.

The foreign minister painted a stark picture of the island's worsening energy crisis, noting that residents frequently live with only two or three hours of electricity per day. He described the daily struggles of citizens enduring these rolling blackouts, including food spoiling without refrigeration and parents trying to fan their babies through the intense heat.

As further evidence of deteriorating standards of living, Rodríguez pointed to a significant rise in infant mortality on the island, which increased from four per 1,000 births in 2018 to 9.9 in 2025. Despite these compounding difficulties, the foreign minister ruled out declaring a humanitarian crisis, choosing instead to praise Cuban solidarity in the face of hardship.

The ongoing economic crisis remains a point of contention between the two nations. While the Cuban government blames its severe economic hardships and shortages directly on the array of U.S.-imposed punitive measures, Washington attributes the island's economic difficulties to poor internal management by Cuban authorities.