Overview
- Four Democrats — Reps. Mark Pocan, Teresa Leger-Fernández, Maxine Dexter and Delia Ramírez — visited Havana, met President Miguel Díaz-Canel and returned Monday after several days of meetings and street visits.
- The delegation reported acute humanitarian effects that they attribute to the U.S. January energy embargo, including blackouts of up to 20 hours, halted public transport, flight cancellations and strained medical services.
- Lawmakers publicly condemned the policy, quoting Cubans who described the situation as a "silent Gaza," and said they will seek amendments in Congress to protect health care and to limit further unilateral presidential actions on the embargo.
- Both U.S. and Cuban officials acknowledge episodic contact between their governments but have not disclosed formal negotiations or any progress toward lifting or easing the embargo.
- The embargo was imposed after Venezuela’s leadership was seized in January and included threats of tariffs on third-party fuel suppliers, and reporting says those measures have worsened a multi-year crisis that also stems from earlier sanctions and domestic policy failures.