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A top Cuban official has said that there are no negotiations underway with the United States and no agenda for future talks.
Getting into it: Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez made the announcement at a press conference in Havana on Monday. “There are no negotiations or agendas, although a willingness to stay in contact remains despite the lack of progress,” he said. He added that conversations with the State Department have produced nothing, blaming what he called a lack of willingness from the US.
The occasion for the press conference was Cuba’s annual accounting of embargo damage. Havana puts the cost at $8.1 billion between March 2025 and February 2026, 7% above the previous period. That figure leaves out two later moves: January’s limits on the island’s fuel supply and the secondary sanctions that followed in May. Rodríguez said both will push the number higher in the next report.
He spent most of his time on what the energy blockade looks like day to day. He said, “The blockade doesn’t punish the government, it punishes every person on the island in every way. It means long months spent living with only 2 or 3 hours of electricity a day or less, food spoiling, heat that makes it impossible to sleep, children doing their homework in near darkness.” Rodríguez also said the internet is off for many and called the policy collective punishment by the United States.
Despite this, the US position has not moved. Washington treats Havana as a national security problem and has framed the blockade and the added sanctions as pressure aimed at ending communist rule on the island.
This all comes as the United Nations, Mexico, Russia, China, and others have called the sanctions and energy blockade a violation of international law. A team of UN experts warned in August of a growing risk of disease outbreaks on the island.
