In his most recent article, “Cuba: Victory or Death,” Mejia stated that the blockade, which the United States and its allies are determined to maintain, intensified by President Donald Trump’s policies, represents a new and unprecedented escalation contained in the Executive Order issued by the White House on May 1.

  This measure, taken to extreme levels, is—according to the article—an act of aggression that multiplies the effects of the economic and commercial restrictions that have affected the daily life of this sister nation and its relations with third countries for decades, a right it possesses as a sovereign and independent state.

  This new threat against Cuba is inherently criminal, because, in addition to the extraterritorial effects of the blockade—through the intimidation of companies, foreign entities, and banks to limit their relations with the island—its consequences are aimed at generating hunger and desperation among the population, he denounced, along with the announced threat of military invasion.

  According to his statement, its effects are already evident in catastrophic economic and social consequences, and the situation has reached the point of partially paralyzing the operation of hospitals—except in serious cases—limiting in-person education at all levels, and affecting public transportation.

  It also impacts the decrease in food production, as well as imports and exports, due to the reduction of the country’s financial resources, he pointed out.

  The domino effect of this crisis is also impacting tourist arrivals, reducing commercial transactions, and forcing the withdrawal, under pressure from the Trump administration, of foreign companies established in Cuba, such as the Canadian firm Sherritt International.    The cancellation of Cuban medical service programs in other countries has also reduced the income generated by that sector.

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