More than sixty years into one of the world’s longest-running economic blockades, it is no longer possible to ignore the devastating toll of the United States of America’s embargo on Cuba.
What began in 1962 as a Cold War manoeuvre has become an entrenched policy of economic suffocation that is morally indefensible, economically destructive, and increasingly dangerous for the entire Caribbean region.
Last week, the Sam Nujoma Foundation echoed growing international outrage and described the worsening conditions in Cuba as a “man-made humanitarian crisis.”
That is not hyperbole. It is an accurate description of a crisis that has outlived the ideological battles that gave birth to it.
Today, the US embargo is not just about trade bans. It is a far-reaching system of sanctions, financial restrictions, and diplomatic pressure that touches nearly every aspect of life in Cuba, from power generation and public transport to food distribution and healthcare.
The recent kidnapping of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, Cuba’s most significant energy ally, only worsened an already dire situation. With oil shipments from Caracas cut off, rolling blackouts have become a daily reality.
This has affected every aspect of Cuban life, even tourism, which has been one of the few bright spots in Cuba’s economy but is now collapsing under fuel shortages and cancelled airline routes.
This is not just about discomfort for the Cuban people; it is about survival. Speaking in Windhoek late last year, Cuba’s Ambassador to Namibia, Sergio Vigoa de la Uz, called the US embargo “a silent genocide of the Cuban people.” He called it “illegal and inhumane,” pointing out how Cuba’s exclusion from systems like global banking makes even basic financial transactions prohibitively expensive.
Every day, the embargo imposes massive financial penalties on ordinary Cubans trying to live ordinary lives.
And yet, despite the pain, despite the overwhelming annual support from the United Nations General Assembly for lifting the embargo, Washington painfully persists. President Donald Trump’s administration has doubled down, enforcing secondary sanctions on countries that trade with Cuba and intensifying the squeeze on a country already on its knees.Proponents argue that sanctions are meant to drive political reform, but history shows otherwise. Six decades of suffering have not toppled the Cuban government; instead, they have only entrenched hardship. The embargo has failed in its political objectives, but it has succeeded in making life harder for millions of people who had no role in shaping their leaders’ decisions.
Namibia, for its part, has remained consistent in its support for Cuba. From Namibia’s Liberation Struggle to today, the bond between the two nations is one of solidarity forged in struggle. President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has rightly called for Cuba’s removal from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism and demanded an end to the embargo.
So too has civil society, as the Cuban Embassy in Windhoek continues to organise solidarity caravans, not to stir politics, but to demand dignity.
This is not about defending any specific political system.
This is about defending the right of a people to live free from collective punishment. Sanctions may be dressed up in the language of diplomacy, but their impact is deeply personal as mothers struggle to find medicine for their children; farmers are unable to access fertiliser or parts; students are sitting in dark classrooms because there is no power.
The embargo is not just outdated, it is unjust. It no longer serves strategic interests. It serves only to perpetuate human suffering.
It is time for the United States to lift the embargo and allow Cuba to re-enter the global economic community. It is time to let diplomacy replace coercion. And it is long past time for the world to match its words of condemnation with concrete pressure for change.
Cuba has chosen dignity over submission. Now, it is up to the international community to choose humanity over hypocrisy.
– ebrandt@nepc.com.na