“I’m ready to fight. We won’t back down; surrender is not an option for Cubans. We decide our own destiny, no one else,” says Enma, a mother and teacher.

February 21, 2026 — teleSUR

Cuba has now endured more than six decades under a severe US economic, commercial, and financial blockade, a reality that has transformed daily life into an obstacle course. The embargo not only impacts the economy but also the very heart of families.

In recent weeks, this pressure has intensified with new restrictive measures from Washington aimed at preventing fuel shipments to the island, triggering an energy crisis that is testing, once again, the Caribbean nation’s capacity for reinvention. But amidst the scarcity, popular organization and, above all, the strength of Cuban women are emerging.

Emma Doris: between healing and hope

Emma Doris Ricardo Santana, a mother and university professor, knows firsthand the weight of these restrictions. Her life took a dramatic turn when an aggressive form of breast cancer forced her to leave the classroom. 

The blockade hindered his recovery : the shortage of cytostatic serums prevented him from receiving the full treatment within the planned timeframe.

The lack of medication was compounded by the ordeal of transportation , forcing her to travel between three different hospitals. Despite everything, Emma recovered thanks to the dedication of Cuban public healthcare and an unbreakable network of support. 

“Medicine heals, but so does solidarity. That’s what makes you get up,” he says with a recovered smile, although his eyes reveal a latent concern.

His 10-year-old daughter, Claudia, suffers from a growth disorder . The necessary reagents and hormones are not reaching the island due to the sanctions.

“The family’s priority is her. The little girl needs treatment that we can’t yet provide in Cuba,” she explains. But far from giving up, Emma remains resolute: “I’m ready to fight. We won’t back down; surrender is not in the Cuban spirit. We decide our own destiny, no one else.”

The dream of becoming a mother in the face of adversity

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At 29, Rocío Rincón has only one goal in life: to be a mother. A civilian employee at the Carlos J. Finley Hospital, she lives with a pituitary tumor that has prevented her from fulfilling her dream . In her home, a Yoruba altar and a painting of five angel girls watch over her longing.

“None of those children are mine, but having a baby is my goal,” she confesses with a deep but serene sadness. Rocío is grateful that her treatment is free thanks to the Cuban healthcare system, although the instability in the supply of medications—which often depend on donations from friendly countries—is a constant shadow.

“ Too many people are suffering because of this blockade. With Trump, the situation is much more aggressive; these are measures to suffocate us, but they won’t succeed,” Rocío declares, reflecting the feelings of thousands of women who, between deprivation and faith, refuse to relinquish control of their future.

Manuel Isla Community: sowing sovereignty in the most remote corner

Far from the hustle and bustle of the capital, the Manuel Isla community —named in honor of a young martyr of the Revolution—stands as a model of self-management. There, professionals, educators, and workers have built an oasis of resistance. 

In this environment lives María Eva Puentes Torres, a Santiago baker in her sixties who works wearing an apron adorned with bunnies and battles power outages to deliver her cakes. Each cake is a work of art and a testament to resilience. 

“The blackouts take away our ability to work and affect my university daughter’s studies, who can’t even charge her phone to watch her classes,” she confesses indignantly. 

However, his stance is unwavering : “This country is ours. We will resist with creativity. No one here surrenders.”

Ainara: The voice of the future that is not afraid

Cuban bravery knows no age. Ainara Neira Reyes, at just 11 years old , speaks with the maturity of someone who understands that her school is a bastion of values. Although the blockade limits her access to pencils, notebooks, or even the possibility of playing volleyball because there are no balls, she feels protected by her teachers.

“We pioneers always go ahead,” says Ainara, who keeps herself informed daily and understands that external hatred seeks to break her spirit. 

His message to the children of the world is one of pure solidarity : “We are going through a difficult time, but if you go through something similar, we will support you from here. Don’t give up!”

The language of the “indomitable guerrilla”

As Tatiana Coll, a longtime collaborator on the island and witness to the 1970 sugar harvest, rightly recalls , Cubans have a special nature : perhaps in their daily routine they seem relaxed, but “as soon as the trumpet of defense sounds, nobody can surpass them.” 

They activate in guerrilla mode , a characteristic that Fidel taught them and that today women —from the pastry chef to the pioneer— embody with a dignity that does not understand surrender.

In Cuba, resistance is not just a political concept; it’s a mother’s hand baking a cake in the dark, a girl defending her right to education, and a community that, faced with fuel shortages, decides to grow its own food. Solidarity and sovereignty, definitively, have a woman’s face.

Author: TeleSUR – ac – DE

Source: La Jornada – Agencies

February 20, 2026 — Belly of the Beast

“Policy goals cannot justify actions that in themselves violate human rights,” said UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Spokesperson Marta Hurtado on February 13.

Three special rapporteurs from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a statement last week that said: “The U.S. executive order imposing a fuel blockade on Cuba is a serious violation of international law and a grave threat to a democratic and equitable international order.”

They added that the Trump administration’s claims that Cuba supports terrorism and represents an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security lack credibility.

Marta Hurtado, spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, questions how Cuba can overcome its current crisis while facing some of the most severe sanctions in the world.

According to Hurtado, decades-long sanctions, recent U.S. measures restricting oil shipments, and extreme weather events are converging into a nationwide emergency. Fuel shortages are disrupting hospitals, intensive care units, vaccine storage, water-pumping systems and food distribution.

More than 80% of Cuba’s water infrastructure depends on electricity, and rolling blackouts are undermining access to clean water, sanitation and basic healthcare.

Hurtado’s remarks highlight a growing concern inside UN institutions about the humanitarian impact of sanctions and the limits they impose on a country’s ability to respond to economic and social emergencies.

February 20, 2026 — Belly of the Beast

Belly of the Beast journalist Liz Oliva Fernández was interviewed last week on the Chapo Trap House podcast. She spoke about the tightening of the blockade, solar energy, healthcare and the Cuban-American lobby.

“A lot of people in Cuba are realizing that this propaganda we’ve been getting [from the U.S.] that the blockade isn’t real, that sanctions only affect the Cuban government, is bullshit,” Liz said. “For the first time, these Cuban-American politicians are publicly saying that ‘if your mother is hungry and your kids don’t have access to medication, this is the price you have to pay to get freedom.’ And people in Cuba are like: ‘Wait, what? I have to suffer so that you can bring us freedom? This is crazy.’”

Other recent appearances by Liz:

• ​The Real News Network’s Marc Steiner Show
• ​The Millennials Are Killing Capitalism show​
• ​Radio LoRa’s Salpicada Feminista podcast (in Spanish)​

Our reporting was also featured on MS NOW on February 14.

Washington, Feb 15 (Prensa Latina) The Let Cuba Live donation campaign in the United States aims to send solar panels to keep hospitals running and save lives on the island amid the blockade reinforced by President Donald Trump.

• February 15, 2026 | 12:55

The campaign, a collaborative effort involving the New York-based organization The People’s Forum, seeks urgent relief from the situation created after Trump’s executive order of January 29, which declared a national emergency regarding Cuba and, to address it, decided on a blockade of oil imports.

“Trump’s fuel embargo is trying to cripple Cuba,” The People’s Forum said in a public message on X.

“Don’t let them get away with it. Help us send solar panels to keep hospitals running and save lives. Trump can’t block the sun! Long live Cuba!” he emphasized.

The Republican president threatened coercive tariffs on countries that directly or indirectly defied the measure and sold fuel to the Caribbean nation. This action, which has extraterritorial reach, tightens the unilateral embargo imposed on Cuba more than 60 years ago.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, during his trip to the Munich Security Conference in Germany, reaffirmed the hostile rhetoric towards Cuba in interviews given to the press, telling them, among other things, that the “Cuban regime” does not have a real economic policy and does not know how to improve the daily lives of its people.

To which some X users responded: “It’s a little difficult to have an economic policy when little Cuba is living a life sanctioned by the US empire” or “More than 60 years of US sanctions, and they still pretend that the Cuban economy collapsed ‘on its own’.”

This week, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, a member of the United States House of Representatives, denounced the cruel and despotic oil blockade against Cuba by the Trump administration.

“The U.S. oil embargo against Cuba is cruel and despotic,” wrote the Democratic representative from Minnesota in X, stating that “it is an economic war designed to strangle an island, where innocent civilians will pay with their lives to force regime change.”

“We must lift the blockade NOW,” demanded Omar, one of the voices of the more progressive wing of the Democratic Party within the United States Congress.

Her social media post on Thursday was accompanied by an article published in The Wall Street Journal about the situation in Cuba following Trump’s order.

Another statement at the Capitol came from Jim McGovern, Ranking Member of the House Rules Committee, who introduced a new bill to lift the blockade against Cuba.

HR 7521, the United States-Cuba Trade Act, would repeal or amend several decades-old laws that restrict trade, exchange, telecommunications, and travel with Cuba, he noted.

A similar bill, S. 136, was introduced in the United States Senate by Democratic lawmakers Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley from Oregon.

He also warned that this economic blockade “is not only absurdly ineffective, but counterproductive and harms precisely (…) ordinary people and their families who are denied food, medicine and basic products.”

On February 3, 1962, US President John F. Kennedy signed the decree establishing the blockade against Cuba. Four days after that order was issued, Washington’s illegal and inhumane policy became official, a policy that remains the longest unilateral embargo in history against any country.

rgh/dfm

The flotilla is scheduled to set sail in March to defy the energy blockade and deliver food and medicine to the island.

february 14, 2026 — teleSUR

nternational solidarity is organizing to confront the intensifying economic siege against Cuba. A global coalition of unions and social movements confirmed the dispatch of a flotilla carrying essential supplies. This initiative responds to the need to break the energy strangulation policy that Cuba is suffering following recent pressure from the White House.

Under the name “Our America ,” the convoy will sail through the Caribbean in March to deliver essential food and medicine. Organizers explained that the strategy is inspired by the resilience of the Sumud Global Flotilla. The main objective is to break the logistical blockade that currently prevents Cuba from accessing vital products.

READ ALSO:

The Our America Flotilla is announced to deliver humanitarian aid to Cuba under US blockade.

Political leaders such as Jeremy Corbyn and Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib have publicly supported this humanitarian mission. They denounce the forced austerity measures in the Caribbean nation as a direct result of a policy of external aggression. These sanctions aim to paralyze several sectors essential to the country and thus affect the daily lives of Cuban families.

ANNOUNCING

The Nuestra América Flotilla. We are sailing to Cuba, bringing critical humanitarian aid for its people. Together, we can break the siege, save lives, and stand up for the cause of Cuban self-determination. Join us: https://nuestraamericaflotilla.org

While civil society mobilizes, some regional governments are already sending direct assistance to alleviate the current crisis. Mexico stands out with the delivery of hundreds of tons of food for the population. However, the complex geopolitical scenario requires keeping certain energy supply agreements confidential.

From the Kremlin, Russia is considering sending crude oil and refined products to alleviate the severe fuel shortage. This aid is critical after months without the arrival of oil tankers, a situation exacerbated by threats against commercial shipping companies. Havana is resisting in a context where international law is ignored by foreign powers.

Jeremy Corbyn

@jeremycorbyn

The US has declared Cuba an “unusual and extraordinary threat”, authorising new sanctions and tightening its illegal blockade. Trump is trying to starve Cuba into submission — and millions of people will suffer. This is economic warfare, plain and simple. Hands off Cuba!

UN experts Despite widespread rejection in the General Assembly, coercive measures have recently intensified. The “Nuestra América” ​​flotilla represents an act of dignity in the face of a siege condemned by the world.

Author: teleSUR: alr – JML

Mexico City, Feb 14 (Prensa Latina) Very close to the tents erected in the emblematic Zócalo of the capital to celebrate the Day of Love and Friendship, the people of Mexico once again demonstrated today how much they carry Cuba in their hearts.

• February 14, 2026 | 8:53 PM

Among flags of both nations and images of the historical leader of the Revolution on the island, Fidel Castro, and the Argentine-Cuban guerrilla Ernesto (Che) Guevara, the space set up to receive supplies destined for the largest of the Antilles experienced a constant hustle and bustle.

The continuous flow of people arriving with large or small packages, containing everything from food to medicine and other supplies, was complemented by the counting and organization of the products into larger boxes for later shipment to the Caribbean nation.

Organized by the Militant Solidarity Collective Va por Cuba and the José Martí Association of Cuban Residents in Mexico, the campaign “From town to town, let’s end the blockade” aims to make it clear that the island, besieged by the United States, is not alone.

“We have seen the massive response from the Mexican people. Long before the tent opened, there were already people lined up with their donations,” Olivia Garza, vice president of the Association, told Prensa Latina, describing the turnout as impressive.

“It’s so full that we’ve had to ask two trucks to take away boxes, because otherwise we wouldn’t fit in the tent, and we still have a lot to collect,” he commented when there were still three hours left before the end of the first day of the initiative.

Regarding the message this reaction from the Mexican people sends to US President Donald Trump, Garza maintained that Washington’s aggressive policy “will not be able to defeat the people of Cuba, nor block international solidarity.”

The campaign comes after Trump signed an executive order in January declaring a purported national emergency and establishing a process for imposing tariffs on goods from countries that supply crude oil to the Caribbean nation.

Organizations have warned that depriving the country of access to oil would paralyze it, as it affects such sensitive areas as electricity generation, the operation of hospitals, food production and distribution, and water pumping.

Amid the tightening of the embargo imposed by Washington on the island for more than six decades, Jocabeth Garay, of the Mexican Movement of Solidarity with Cuba, assured that everything possible is being done “to break this criminal blockade” that “tries to strangle” the population.

“Mexicans have always been supportive, and Cubans are a brother nation that has always been in our hearts,” he said.

Acts like this add to other tangible displays of solidarity emanating from the country, such as the arrival at the port of Havana last Thursday of 814 tons of aid sent by the government and the decision of President Claudia Sheinbaum to make more shipments.

lam/las

Mexico City, Feb 14 (Prensa Latina) The renowned Mexican newspaper La Jornada addresses today in its pages the international denunciations against the energy blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba and its impacts on the population of the Caribbean country.

• February 14, 2026 | 11:19

On its front page, the news outlet refers to the warnings from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights regarding the effects of the oil blockade on access to food, water and health in the Caribbean nation.

The spokesperson for that organization, Marta Hurtado, pointed out that intensive care units and emergency rooms are at risk, as well as the production, supply and storage of vaccines, blood products and other temperature-sensitive medicines.

High Commissioner Volker Türk reiterates his call to lift all unilateral measures due to their broad and indiscriminate impact on the population, the statement notes, stressing that such actions constitute a violation of human rights.

This statement comes after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January declaring a supposed national emergency and establishing a process to apply tariffs to goods from countries that supply crude oil to Cuba.

The Republican’s decree, another turn of the screw in the economic siege imposed for more than 60 years, is part of Washington’s current maximum pressure policy against that country, and attempts to justify it with the interest of national security and the foreign policy of the United States.

La Jornada also refers to the impact of the controversial measure on food production and management in Cuba, and the possibility mentioned yesterday by President Claudia Sheinbaum of opening an air bridge to deliver aid, if Havana requests it.

On Thursday, the ships Papaloapan and Isla Holbox, of the Mexican Navy, arrived in Havana with some 814 tons of basic food and hygiene items, after departing on Sunday bound for the Caribbean nation.

“As soon as the ships return, we will send more support of different kinds,” the head of the Executive stated that day.

Solidarity was also evident from the ruling National Regeneration Movement (Morena), and groups such as the Militant Solidarity Collective Goes for Cuba and the Association of Cubans Residing in Mexico, which called on the population to support the island with food supplies.

In what it described as an act of consistency and Latin American brotherhood, the Morena parliamentary group in the Congress of this capital, together with the State Executive Committee of the political formation, also announced the start of a solidarity campaign.

In addition, at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the Assembly of Postgraduate Students in Latin American Studies invited people to join in the collection of food supplies in another initiative from the 17th to the 20th of this month.

arc/las

 Feb 14, 2026 — WCVB Boston

BOSTON —

President Donald Trump’s oil blockade on Cuba caused concern among demonstrators who took to the streets of Boston, Massachusetts, to support the island nation.

Demonstrators said the blockade could cause Cuba to run out of oil by month’s end.

The Trump administration is also imposing tariffs on any country that sells oil to the island nation.

“The emergency declaration is based on the preposterous lie that Cuba poses an imminent threat to the National Security of the United States,” a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Peace Action wrote in a press release.

Several protesters gathered outside the MBTA’s Park Street station, holding signs of support for Cuba.

In an executive order, President Trump said the “policies, practices, and actions of the Government of Cuba constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat.”

He told reporters on Friday the order is not meant to choke off Cuba’s economy, but added he doesn’t think the island nation can withstand the blockade.