The Cost of U.S. Sanctions on Cuba in 2023-2024
September 30, 2024
On September 12th, 2024, Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs released its annual report on the impact of the blockade.
According to the report, between March 2023 and February 2024 the U.S. blockade (also known as the embargo) cost Cuba over $5 billion dollars.
The all-encompassing blockade impacts all sectors of Cuban society and life.
Here are some examples:
Health
Cuba was unable to obtain medicine and medical equipment due to companies and banks backing out of deals in fear of U.S. sanctions, or getting bought out by U.S. companies during pending agreements.
In the last year, Cuba had contracts canceled to obtain medical oxygen, equipment needed to encapsulate medicines and regulate their temperature, and drugs used to treat brain tumors.
We covered an example of this when Cuba was blocked from purchasing ventilators from two Swiss manufacturers during the COVID-19 pandemic after they were bought out by U.S. firm Vyaire Medical. Cuba adapted by manufacturing its own ventilators.
The report states that the money Cuba loses in just 30 minutes due to the blockade would be enough to cover the demand for wheelchairs in the country’s special education system.
Agriculture
Sanctions prevented the UN Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) from purchasing $1.5 million dollars worth of tractors for small-scale Cuban farmers, a much needed tool to increase food production.
Poultry producers have also been affected by the difficulty in obtaining antibiotics, supplements and antiparasitic medication needed for their laying hens, contributing to high mortality rates and a scarcity of eggs in Cuba.
Tourism
300,000 European citizens who visited Cuba have been prohibited from entering the United States via the ESTA program. This ban is a result of Cuba’s designation as a “State Sponsor of Terrorism” by the Trump and Biden administrations.
Europeans who travel to Cuba via the U.S. are regularly not allowed to take their return flights home.
Donations
U.S. sanctions have severely hampered the ability of people outside the island to make donations to Cuba.
Cuba’s School of Architecture in Havana was set to receive over $300,000 in computers and software as part of a collaboration with a British university. The project was stalled because the equipment violated an extra-territorial U.S. law that prohibits companies from selling or donating to Cuba equipment containing more than 10% of U.S.-made components.
Private Sector
In May, the Biden Administration announced it would allow Cuban entrepreneurs to open U.S. bank accounts.
Five months later, the administration has still not lifted this restriction.
Meanwhile, private businesses in Cuba continue to suffer from the sanctions targeting the public sector.
UN Vote
The latest report on the impact of U.S. sanctions was released one month before the UN General Assembly will hold its annual vote on a resolution calling for the end to the U.S. blockade on Cuba.
The resolution has passed with an overwhelming majority every year for the last three decades. The U.S. and Israel are the only countries that consistently vote against it.
UN General Assembly President Dennis Francis said during his visit to Havana in June of this year that the blockade is “a violation of the [UN] charter, and it’s a violation of international law…and unworthy of being kept in existence.”