New York, October 9th, 2025.- Ignoring the unequivocal position of the international community, expressed in successive resolutions of the UN General Assembly, the US government continues to rigorously enforce the laws that make up the complex framework of the blockade against Cuba.
Just six days before the end of his term, on January 14, 2025, President Joe Biden exercised his prerogatives by removing Cuba from the US State Department's list of countries that allegedly sponsor terrorism; suspending the implementation of Title III of the Helms-Burton Act; repealing the Presidential National Security Memorandum No. 5 of June 2017 and eliminating the list of restricted Cuban entities. This decision was a belated and limited correction of several aspects of this cruel and unjust policy.
However, some of these measures were reversed by President Donald Trump on his first day in office by signing the Executive Order “Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions” on January 20, 2025. This led to the new inclusion of Cuba in the list of countries allegedly sponsoring terrorism, which showed the highly politicized nature of these unilateral lists and the fact that that they are not based on evidence, but on the murky dealings of US politics.
Subsequently, and in accordance with Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, US courts were allowed to hear lawsuits against individuals or companies linked to nationalized properties, with the aim of internationalizing economic pressure and deterring foreign direct investments in Cuba. At the end of March, 2025, 45 lawsuits had been filed under Title III, 30 of them are still ongoing litigations.
As part of its policy of maximum pressure, in February, 2025, the US government rejected dozens of Cuban passports and did not grant visas that had been processed by Cuban government agencies. This decision directly affects bilateral exchanges in areas of mutual interest and benefit for the peoples of Cuba and the US, such as culture, health, education, science and sports, thus politicizing the natural relationship between neighboring peoples.
The reissue of Presidential Memorandum No. 5 on June 30, 2025, by the US government confirms the policy of maximum economic pressure as a criminal and illegal tool to pursue hegemonic objectives and regime change in Cuba. It reinforces the aggression and economic blockade imposed by the US government.
Statements by representatives of the US government, including its Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and anti-Cuban congress members, have confirmed the intention to cut off all possible sources of external income for Cuba; damage tourism and travel by US citizens and citizens from other countries; sabotage international medical cooperation; hinder fuel supplies; obstruct the inflow of family remittances; scare away foreign direct investments and hamper trade; and torpedo Cuba's economic and cooperative relations with third countries or blocs made up by these countries. The new document adds up to the corpus of coercive measures against Cuba that already existed through well-known regulations.
No other nation has been faced with such a long-lasting, anachronistic, systematic and extreme framework of aggressive and coercive laws and policies.
On October 28th and 29th, the United Nations General Assembly will consider and vote on the draft resolution "Necessity of ending the economic, financial and commercial blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba". Once again, the international community will raise its voice and overwhelmingly reject this unjust, illegal and cruel policy.
Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations