U.S. Sanctions Cost Cuba $7.5 Billion in One Year
September 24, 2025 — Belly of the Beast
Cuba has released its annual report on the impact of U.S. sanctions on the island’s economy. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the damages amount to $7.5 billion, the single biggest loss in a year since Cuba began issuing these reports.
Last week, Cuba’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Rodríguez presented the government’s annual report on the impact of U.S. sanctions, which estimated losses to Cuba from March 2024 to February 2025 at $7.5 billion.
The report accuses the U.S. government of “surgically and systematically” targeting the main sources of revenue for the Cuban economy.
The impact of sanctions during this period was nearly 50% more than that of the previous year.
The report lists the following examples of how U.S. policy has damaged Cuba’s economy:
- Cuba’s inclusion on the U.S. government’s “State Sponsors of Terrorism” list
- Helms-Burton Title III lawsuits in U.S. courts against companies investing in Cuba
- Sanctions and threats against companies supplying fuel
- Sanctions that block financial transactions
- The U.S. government’s campaign targeting Cuba’s international medical cooperation
- U.S. efforts to stop tourists from visiting the island
The report will be attached to a resolution presented to the United Nations next month calling on the world to condemn U.S. sanctions. For the last three decades, Cuba has presented the resolution at the UN with almost identical results each year: nearly every country in the world calls for the U.S. to end its embargo on Cuba…except the U.S. and Israel.
