Cuba's Healthcare System Crumbles Under Intensified US Sanctions
In the Ramón González Coro maternity hospital in Havana, a stark reality of human suffering unfolds daily. Maria, a 50-year-old woman with terminal cervical cancer, lies wrapped in a dark blue blanket, surrounded by friends. While she praises her dedicated doctors, she is also a victim of a decades-long US economic siege, drastically intensified earlier this year when former President Donald Trump threatened tariffs against countries delivering fuel to Cuba.
Fuel Shortages Paralyse Critical Medical Services
The result has been catastrophic: no fuel imports for three months, depleting diesel and fuel reserves across the island. Cuba's electricity grid is collapsing, and daily life is grinding to a halt. Even reaching the hospital has become a struggle as fuel prices soar. "In the hospital itself, sometimes they don't have all the facilities for the doctor to do their job properly," Maria explains. "No matter how much they want to help you, there are things beyond their control."
The hospital now lacks essential resources. Crucial medical tests cannot be performed, and there is no tranexamic acid—a basic drug used to prevent bleeding. Maria bleeds so heavily that she has developed anaemia. When informed that Trump claims sanctions are designed to help the Cuban people, she calls the assertion "outrageous."
Wider Consequences for Public Health and Infrastructure
Dr Lilian Peruyera describes the broader impact. Medical staff cannot afford transportation to work, leading to understaffed wards. Women are increasingly giving birth at home, premature births are rising, and illnesses are detected too late. When asked what message she has for citizens in the West, Dr Peruyera begins to cry. "That we Cubans want to be happy, I think that's the most important thing," she says. "There's no other message. I believe we have a right to dignity, to live as human beings."
Cuba's healthcare system, once the pride of its revolution, enabled this poor Caribbean nation to achieve life expectancy comparable to wealthy Western countries and one of the world's lowest infant mortality rates. However, last year, as renewed sanctions took hold, that infant mortality rate reportedly doubled since 2018.
Daily Life Disrupted by Blackouts and Resource Scarcity
While US missiles are not raining down on Havana, the situation should still be understood as a form of warfare. During a recent visit, the city was plunged into darkness—the second national blackout in less than a week. Families resorted to cooking on charcoal stoves, rubbish piled up in streets with swarming flies due to lack of fuel for collection, and water pumping systems failed.
Trump claimed he wanted "to promote a stable, prosperous and free country for the Cuban people." In reality, this has always been a war on those people. The embargo, imposed over six decades, was designed to strangle the revolution. Once-grand buildings have crumbled because materials like cement, steel, and machinery are difficult to obtain. Taxi drivers still rely on brightly coloured 1950s Fords, Chevrolets, and Cadillacs. "We're living in the 21st century," one driver remarks. "But it feels like the 19th."
Economic Strangulation and Global Implications
There was a brief moment of hope when President Barack Obama eased restrictions, boosting tourism and economic activity. Trump reversed that in his first term. Now, after cutting off oil supplies via Venezuela and Mexico earlier this year, he has tightened the vice further. This island, less than 100 miles from the US coast, is being suffocated.
None of this serves democracy. Trump has openly boasted that he could "have the honour of taking Cuba," adding: "Whether I free it, take it—think I could do anything I want with it." Tourism had become a lifeline, but visitor numbers are collapsing, stripping away one of the country's main sources of hard currency. Flights are cancelled, hotels close, and people are exhausted, ground down, and losing hope.
"It's undeniable that the government's popularity is at an all-time low," says Daniel, a young film-maker. "In that sense, the sanctions are succeeding." He has his own criticisms of the Cuban state but rejects the claim that the US acts in Cubans' interests. "If they did, they would not have had an embargo for 60-plus years, and they would certainly not have an oil blockade happening right now, which is costing human lives."
A Pattern of Destruction in US Foreign Policy
This crisis in Cuba is part of a broader pattern. Last summer, walking through Baghdad, streets were lined with images of the dead as Iraqis matter-of-factly stated their country had been destroyed. Weeks later, in the West Bank, Palestinians spoke of being driven from their homes by an Israeli army armed by the US. Twenty miles away, Gaza was erased from the Earth, facilitated by US support. Now, American missiles fall on Iran in an illegal war that began with the mass killing of schoolgirls. Across the world, the US has become synonymous with destruction.
Trump believes that brute force can reverse the decline of US power, making the world fear Washington and restoring authority. Instead, it is fuelling anger and resentment on a global scale. The world has noted that the US knows how to destroy—Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Palestine, and Cuba stand as stark examples of what US power now delivers. The world is drawing its conclusions and looking for a way out.
Uncertain Future and the End of US Hegemony
How Cuban society endures the coming months remains uncertain. What is clear is that the era of US hegemony is entering a brutal, disfigured end. The resilience of the Cuban people, as seen in hospitals and streets, contrasts sharply with the destructive policies imposed from abroad, highlighting a global crisis of conscience and power.
