Washington, May 12.- Democratic Congressmen Pramila Jayapal and Jonathan L. Jackson stated that if the people of the United States knew the full extent of the current situation in Cuba due to the blockade, they would immediately demand its lifting.
Both members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee published their reflections in The New York Times (TNYT) regarding a five-day visit to the island, where they witnessed the impact of broad unilateral coercive measures by the United States on different sectors of society, especially in public health.
Jayapal, representing Washington's 7th Congressional District, and Jackson, representing Illinois' 1st District, argued that “between 2018 and 2025, as U.S. sanctions became more punitive, Cuba's once impressive infant mortality rate skyrocketed by 148 percent.”
They described their tour of a maternity hospital in Havana, where the U.S. blockade makes the importation of spare parts for equipment, such as "broken incubators, almost impossible," and emphasized that their time in Cuba allowed them to better understand the humanitarian impacts of the United States' energy siege on the island, which has been maintained for months.
"We returned shocked by the inhuman effects of this policy, whose goal seems to be to suffocate the economy," they emphasized, explaining that with the exception of a Russian tanker that transported enough fuel for between 10 and 14 days, crude oil shipments to Cuba "have been blocked for more than four months."
They recalled that some countries fear their tankers will be seized in open waters by U.S. military vessels in this scenario of energy blockade against Cuba.
"We returned from our trip with the certainty that, if the American people knew the full extent of what is happening on the ground in Cuba, they would demand an immediate end to the blockade," they noted.
The U.S. restriction on the fuel supply to Cuba—which adds to the longest blockade in United States modern history—challenges the norms of international law that enshrine state sovereignty, non-intervention in internal affairs, and the right of nations to trade freely, Jayapal and Jackson warned.
Furthermore, it constitutes an economic aggression against Cuba's basic infrastructure, designed to inflict collective punishment on the civilian population, the congressmen emphasized.
They also explained that during the visit, conducted last April, they were able to speak with a wide range of Cuban citizens and found a consensus: the U.S. blockade must end, and there is rejection of any eventual military invasion by the United States.
Under other circumstances—they added in their commentary published by the influential daily—Cuba would be a natural trading partner for the United States.
Several secretaries of agriculture—from both Republican and Democratic states—have visited the island to explore opportunities for exporting agricultural products to the Antillean nation, a process that is hindered only by the financial restrictions imposed by the United States as part of the blockade, they insisted.
The Cuban healthcare system—which for decades has been a global model of public health—has generated significant advances that could also benefit Americans, including promising treatments for Alzheimer's and lung cancer, the representatives added.
Jayapal and Jackson advocated for a return to the stage of rapprochement and the rebuilding of relations between Washington and Havana, which was achieved during the term of Democrat Barack Obama (2009-2017).
