Democratic Representatives Pramila Jayapal and Jonathan L. Jackson returned from a five‑day April visit to Cuba with stark evidence of the U.S. energy blockade’s human toll. In Havana’s Eusebio Hernández Pérez maternity hospital they found premature infant Alejandro in a lone functional incubator, while other units sat idle because high‑voltage surges destroyed their parts. The trip was meant to gauge sanctions’ impact on health care.

The authors noted that infant mortality, once a Cuban hallmark, has surged since 2018, climbing 148% as sanctions tightened. Fuel shipments have been halted for over four months, leaving only a single Russian tanker to supply a two‑week reserve. Hospital staff resort to manual ventilation, and doctors warn that other facilities cannot match the hospital’s fragile survival rate.

Jayapal and Jackson argue that ending the embargo would unlock trade opportunities: U.S. agribusinesses could export to a market eager for food, and Cuban biotech—renowned for Alzheimer’s and lung‑cancer research—could collaborate with American firms. The Cuban government recently freed 2,010 political prisoners, a gesture the lawmakers cite as a sign of goodwill, yet they warn that further sanctions risk deeper economic collapse.