Jayapal and Jackson, members of the House of Representatives for the states of Washington and Illinois, respectively, issued that remark at the end of a five-day visit to the island as part of a US congressional delegation.

“The illegal fuel blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba is part of the longest-running blockade in world history that is causing untold suffering to the Cuban people,” they stated in the text, published on Jayapal’s official website.

They remembered that the United States prevented the entry of “a single drop of oil into Cuba for more than three months,” warning that this is “a cruel collective punishment, equivalent, in practice, to an economic bombardment of the country’s infrastructure, and has caused permanent damage.”

“This situation must cease immediately,” the two lawmakers demanded, arguing that they had witnessed firsthand the problems caused by the fuel shortage, which affects basic services such as public health, water supply, and even the education system.

Jayapal and Jackson agreed that the obstacles to progress in Cuba “now depend on the United States modifying its obsolete policy, typical of the Cold War era, based on the imposition of coercive economic measures and military pressure.”

The true reform will only come from charting a new course, the two congress members said, and advocated for the need that the United States and Cuba engage in true negotiations that guarantee the dignity and freedom of the Cuban people, as well as the enormous benefits for the US people that will result from real collaboration between our two countries.”

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