HAVANA — Hundreds of women took to the streets of Cuba’s capital Tuesday, staging a demonstration against U.S. energy restrictions and other sanctions implemented during Donald Trump’s presidency that they say are choking the island nation.
The Federation of Cuban Women, a large government-affiliated organization with strong Communist Party connections, coordinated the protest to pay tribute to Vilma Espín, who founded the group, fought as a guerrilla, and was married to Raúl Castro.
Demonstrators assembled at a park dedicated to a 19th-century independence hero, displaying Cuban flags, carrying banners reading “Down with the Blockade” and holding photographs of Fidel Castro and Espín.
Leading the protest were Deputy Prime Minister Inés María Chapman, Deputy Foreign Minister Josefina Vidal, and Mariela Castro, who is Espín’s daughter and former President Raúl Castro’s child.
“This policy of abuse has to stop,” Vidal told The Associated Press. “The Cuban people don’t deserve this. It’s the most comprehensive, all-encompassing, and longest-running system of coercive measures ever imposed against an entire country.”
Vidal, who played a crucial role in the historic Cuba-U.S. diplomatic warming in 2014 during Barack Obama’s presidency, continued: “It subjects us to collective punishment, recognized as such under international law, and we couldn’t fail to be here.”
Early this January, U.S. forces targeted Venezuela and detained its former leader, cutting off vital oil deliveries to Cuba. Trump later in the month warned of tariffs against any nation providing oil to the Caribbean island.
Nevertheless, Trump expressed no objection when a Russian vessel loaded with 730,000 barrels of crude reached Cuba recently, representing the island’s first oil delivery in three months. Russia has announced plans to dispatch another tanker.
The island generates just 40% of its required fuel, and this shortage has crippled the nation, impacting healthcare, mass transit, manufacturing, and worsening an economic downturn that has persisted for five years.
“I am here fighting for the people of Cuba,” said Leydys de la Cruz, a 57-year-old seamstress who joined Tuesday’s rally. “I would ask Trump to leave us in peace. The situation is very bad because of the blockade he’s imposed on us.”
Georgina Reyes, a 36-year-old IT technician, also pleaded with Trump: “I would tell him that we don’t hurt anyone. … Please don’t hurt us.”
Trump has pushed for government overthrow in Cuba and threatened military action while U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio — whose parents emigrated from Cuba — has called for freeing political detainees and implementing free-market changes.
Both American and Cuban officials have acknowledged ongoing discussions, though details about their scope remain uncertain.
