More than three months after the full oil blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba, the situation on the island is critical, and the consequences are being felt across the entire society.
In Havana, garbage is piling up in the streets, hospitals are limiting admissions and surgeries, citizens are burning wood to heat water, and prolonged power outages have now become a daily occurrence.
“It is shocking to see a country in a state of emergency without being at war or facing a natural disaster. Cuba is experiencing a deliberately engineered, man-made crisis by the Trump administration,” says rescuer and activist Iasonas Apostolopoulos in an interview with fyi.news.
I. Apostolopoulos is currently in Cuba along with 630 other people from 33 countries around the world, participating in the international solidarity mission “Nuestra America Convoy.”
“Although the initiative began as a purely maritime mission, in the end only three vessels reached Cuba, while the rest of us arrived by air,” he continues.
Members of the mission managed to transport 20 tons of humanitarian aid by air, packed into suitcases.
The Greek delegation delivered 200 kilograms of medical supplies to Havana’s Oncology Hospital, collected through donations from people in Greece, while the €15,000 raised via crowdfunding will be used to purchase solar panels for Cuban hospitals.
“As we did for Gaza, as part of March to Gaza, we also went to Cuba by sea and air, creating a convoy of international solidarity to break the illegal blockade,” he states.
(Photo via Reuters)
Following the arrest and abduction of Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, in early January, Cuba lost its main oil supplier, after the United States forced the country’s interim government to halt shipments.
A few weeks later, Cuba also lost other suppliers, such as Mexico and Brazil, after the U.S. threatened them with additional tariffs, claiming that Cuba posed an “extraordinary threat” because “its regime provides safe haven to international terrorist organizations”—an allegation denied by the Cuban government.
“As a result, not a single drop of oil has entered the country for three months, with the exception of a Russian tanker that arrived yesterday [Tuesday, March 31],” says I. Apostolopoulos.
In an unexpected move, Donald Trump stated that he had “no problem” allowing the Russian tanker Anatoly Kolodkin to unload the 100,000 tons of crude oil it was carrying to Cuban refineries.
Although significant, this quantity of oil remains a drop in the ocean, as it is enough to supply Cuba with fuel for only about two weeks.
“The message Trump is sending to the Cuban people is clear: submit or you will die,” Apostolopoulos stresses.
[Editor’s note: On the evening of Thursday, April 2, it was announced that a second Russian oil tanker will depart from Russia for Cuba, though further details are not yet known.]
(Photo via Reuters)
“Without oil there is no energy, and without energy there is nothing. The economy comes to a halt, production collapses, and transportation is reduced to zero. Food cannot be produced when tractors are left without fuel and when people cannot get to their jobs. Even the little that is produced cannot be transported from the fields to the cities,” stresses I. Apostolopoulos.
This is immediately reflected in shortages of basic goods. Eggs, rice, and beans are hard to find, while people wait for hours in lines for a piece of bread.
“In just a few days, we experienced two nationwide blackouts. The entire country was plunged into darkness, while in many areas electricity is cut for 14 to 17 hours a day. People are forced to return to basic survival conditions and cook with charcoal,” he describes.
(Photo by Polyvios Anemoyannis/Hans Lucas)
A large portion of imported oil is used for electricity generation, which in turn powers water pumps. Cuba’s water supply system has now collapsed, leaving entire areas without water.
“While we were in Havana, specific parts of the historic center (Havana Vieja) had no water for 17 consecutive days. We happened to be present when the water returned, and people rushed into the streets with jerry cans and barrels, trying to store as much as they could, not knowing when it would be cut off again.”
An official from Cuba’s National Institute of Water Resources (INRH) stated in early March that the organization is seeking solutions to minimize distribution problems, such as installing solar panels to reduce dependence on the power grid.
(Photo by Iasonas Apostolopoulos)
Due to the lack of fuel, tons of garbage have piled up in the streets of Havana, as garbage trucks are unable to operate.
“In many areas of the city center, we encountered heaps of waste,” says I. Apostolopoulos, adding that there has also been an increase in mosquito-borne diseases.
Overall, transportation across the country has been drastically reduced, forcing schools and universities to switch to remote operation.
“All of this has almost brought tourism to a standstill, which is also the country’s main source of revenue,” he explains.
(Photo by Iasonas Apostolopoulos)
On the day the medical supplies were delivered to Havana’s Oncology Hospital, the Greek delegation spoke directly with doctors, who described a grim situation.
The blockade is dramatically hindering access to essential medicines and medical equipment. Drugs that require refrigeration cannot be properly stored, while treatments for serious illnesses are being interrupted or delayed.
Scheduled surgeries have dropped from 1.2 million annually to around 700,000. Cancer patients are facing disruptions to their treatments, while patients who depend on stable electrical support, such as those with kidney disease, are in an especially difficult position.
According to data from the Cuban government, the total fuel embargo has delayed the vaccination of more than 30,000 children.
The hospital’s director, Dr. Yosvani Fernandez Camejo, identified the lack of spare parts for medical equipment as the most serious issue.
“If something breaks, we can’t simply order it as is done in Europe. It’s much more complicated, and often it has to arrive in travelers’ suitcases,” he said.
“It is truly infuriating to see a country that has developed four vaccines for COVID and one vaccine for lung cancer struggle to find basic supplies for an X-ray,” says I. Apostolopoulos.
Cuba has one of the most developed public healthcare systems and one of the highest doctor-to-population ratios in the world (9 doctors per 1,000 inhabitants), roughly three times that of the United States.
Despite the 60-year embargo imposed by the U.S., Cuba has managed not only to maintain its own national healthcare system at a high level, but also to organize tens of thousands of medical missions around the world, saving millions of lives.
Its doctors have been present in every corner of the globe: from West Africa during the Ebola outbreak, to Italy during the COVID pandemic, and from the Haiti earthquake in January 2010 to the Chile earthquake three months later.
“The country that exports death wants to destroy the country that exports life,” comments I. Apostolopoulos, paraphrasing the words of Fidel Castro.
(Photo via Reuters)
Immediately after the abduction of Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, Cuba, along with Colombia and Mexico, was among the countries directly threatened with military intervention by Donald Trump.
In mid-March, when asked by a journalist whether Cuba would be the next target, the U.S. president replied: “I do believe I will have the honor of taking Cuba.” However, he never clarified how.
“It is true that there is fatigue among the population, as this period can only be compared to 1991–1995, the years following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba’s main ally. However, the Cuban people have enormous reserves of resilience and courage, and just as they stood firm then, they will stand firm now,” explains I. Apostolopoulos.
“The phrase we heard again and again was characteristic: ‘Whatever problems we have, we will solve them ourselves. The United States has no business here. If they come with weapons, we will defend ourselves with weapons,’” he describes.
“As long as states consent to and remain silent in the face of crimes, the action of movements is the only response to policies that strangle entire populations. That is why we will organize more missions in the future,” Apostolopoulos notes.
“Whoever is being persecuted, whether a migrant, a Palestinian, a Jew, or a trans person, by defending the freedom of one, we defend the freedom of all,” he concludes.
