Havana Rejects US Dialogue Amid Record Economic Losses and Blackouts

Havana details unprecedented economic damage and severe energy shortages resulting from the longstanding US embargo.

Published On 7 Sep 20267 Sep 2026

Cuba has declared that it is not currently engaged in negotiations with the United States, as the Trump administration persists with its economic pressure campaign against the island nation.

Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez stated on Monday that there is no active dialogue between Havana and Washington, nor is there an agenda for any future discussions.

These remarks were made during a press conference, where Rodríguez presented Cuba’s latest assessment of the financial toll inflicted by the decades-long US embargo, originally imposed following Fidel Castro’s communist revolution in 1959.

The Cuban government estimates that the US embargo has cost its economy $8 billion between March 2025 and February 2026, marking the highest recorded figure and a seven percent increase from the previous reporting period.

Rodríguez noted that this total excludes more recent Washington sanctions, including energy supply restrictions imposed in January and secondary sanctions introduced in May.

In a post on X, Rodríguez characterized the policy as “economic asphyxiation” and described the blockade, which Havana has long blamed for severe shortages and economic hardship, as “genocidal.”

He wrote, “These are long months of living with only two or three hours of electricity per day or less,” illustrating the dire impact of the worsening energy crisis on Cuban citizens.

He highlighted issues such as food spoiling without refrigeration, parents using fans to cool their babies through the heat, children attempting to study in the dark, and young people lacking internet access.

“All family life [is] damaged,” he stated, emphasizing that Cuba poses no threat, but the blockade does.

Rodríguez described the situation as “collective punishment,” attributing it to a US “energy siege,” an “extreme tightening of the blockade,” and secondary sanctions.

Tensions between Washington and Havana have escalated under US President Donald Trump, despite earlier talks this year that have since ceased.

The diplomatic dispute is set to return to the United Nations.

Rodríguez announced that the General Assembly will debate its annual resolution calling for the end of the US embargo on October 27 and 28.

He accused Washington of applying “extraordinary pressure and intimidation” on other UN member states prior to the vote, though Cuba anticipates “overwhelming support” for ending the embargo.

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