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The Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen (Maryland) posted a video on his X account this Saturday in which he calls for an end to the oil blockade imposed on Cuba by the Trump administration, labeling it as "reckless" and stating that the only outcome has been a humanitarian crisis that punishes the Cuban people, not the regime.
"The only change that the United States has managed to impose on Cuba is a humanitarian crisis that affects millions of people, due to the reckless blockade by Trump and Rubio that punishes the Cuban people, not the Cuban regime," stated Van Hollen.
The senator noted that, more than three months after the implementation of the blockade, the government of Havana remains fully in control, while hospitals are collapsing, schools and businesses are shutting down, and families are facing prolonged blackouts without access to basic necessities.
Van Hollen cited a headline from the New York Times dated March 26, 2026: "Cuban patients are dying due to the U.S. blockade, doctors say."
The chief anesthesiologist of the largest pediatric hospital in Havana, Alioth Fernandez, stated to the newspaper: "I can't tell you how many deaths, but I am sure there are more than in the same period last year."
According to data from the dossier, the blockade cut between 80% and 90% of Cuba's oil imports, resulting in blackouts of up to 25 hours a day in more than 55% of the territory.
At least 96,000 Cubans were awaiting surgery by the end of March, including 11,000 children, and 16,000 cancer patients experienced interruptions in radiotherapy.
Van Hollen's statement comes at a time of heightened escalation. Trump signed a new executive order on Friday that freezes all assets linked to the Cuban regime in U.S. territory and imposes secondary sanctions on foreign banks.
This Saturday, Trump threatened to send the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to the shores of Cuba, claiming he would take control of the island "almost immediately" after the war in Iran concludes.
The senator also published a second video last Thursday framing Trump’s policies as the continuation of 65 years of bipartisan failure.
"Trump's current policy on Cuba is not a total aberration. It is him and Secretary Rubio doubling down on 65 years of a failed and bankrupt policy," he stated.
Van Hollen acknowledged that the Obama administration was the only positive exception, as it restored diplomatic relations and expanded travel, but he warned that this chapter was brief: Trump reversed it in his first term, and Biden has not resumed that direction. "If we want to avoid a war with Cuba, we must put a stop to this president who is acting outside the law," he stated.
The senator's stance is consistent with his history. Congress members also reacted to the new executive order from Trump, in a context where the administration has accumulated more than 240 sanctions against the Cuban regime since January 2025.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, for his part, denied the existence of a naval blockade and attributed Cuba's energy shortage to decades of dependence on external subsidies.
"The blockade must end," concluded Van Hollen in his message this Saturday.
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