Direct threats from the United States against international shipping companies have led to the interruption of cargo services to Cuba, according to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Oscar Pérez-Oliva.
The official denounced the unprecedented intensification of the Washington blockade against Cuba in 2026, as well as the executive orders signed by Washington and the persecution and direct threats against foreign investors.
“There are foreign companies that have yielded to this pressure and have withdrawn from the country. Others remain and continue working with us,” the Deputy Prime Minister stated.
According to Pérez-Oliva, the intensification of the blockade has severed Cuba’s banking and financial relations with numerous institutions and imposes a trade embargo through direct threats against international shipping companies.
The Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment explained that Cuba has containers being held in international ports because some shipping companies have suspended services to the island, while others are operating under “restrictions imposed illegally and unilaterally by the United States.”
The Deputy Prime Minister condemned Washington’s illicit interference, through these threats, in the foreign trade of Cuba, which has led to shortages of essential food items for the population.
To date, the French shipping company CMA CGM has resumed services to Cuba only for food, medicine, and medical supplies. However, components destined for renewable energy projects have not been able to be transported to the island.
“This is an irregular situation and an action directly resulting from US pressure and threats, as well as the conditions being imposed by companies that trade with Cuba,” said the Deputy Prime Minister, who emphasized that these actions violate international trade rules and constitute coercive and illegal measures.
“Today we can say that there is less energy in Cuba because there are containers with resources for the electrical power system that haven’t been able to arrive,” he stated.
Pérez-Oliva explained that there are also food products contracted by state and private companies that haven’t reached Cuba, a situation that has led to shortages of basic necessities.
The minister noted that these shortages “are causing deaths due to a lack of medicine and basic resources for the healthcare system.”
“The blockade against Cuba is genocide,” the deputy prime minister concluded.
IMAGE CREDIT: Photos by Endrys Correa
[ SOURCE: PRENSA LATINA ]
