Nurses, lawmakers call for end to blockade of Cuba

National Nurses United, the nation’s largest union of registered nurses, will join U.S. Representative Delia Ramirez and other lawmakers for a press conference in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, June 30. The event is intended to demand an end to the Trump administration’s blockade of oil supplies entering Cuba.

Union nurses will be joined by Global Health Partners, which is working to provide the island nation with critical medical equipment and medicine. The announcement said fuel shortages in Cuba are now in their fourth month, and that the humanitarian crisis is escalating.

“Nurses cannot and will not stay silent while our president’s policies cause immense suffering, at home or abroad,” said NNU President Jamie Brown, RN. “The Trump administration is using innocent lives, including pregnant women and infants, to force the Cuban government to concede to its completely unrealistic demands. U.S. nurses denounce these cruel tactics and demand an end to the blockade.”

The press conference is scheduled for Tuesday, June 30, at 11:00 a.m. ET at the House Triangle near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. According to the announcement, the event will feature NNU registered nurses, U.S. representatives Delia Ramirez, Pramila Jayapal, Jonathan Jackson, and Ro Khanna, along with Global Health Partners and Code Pink.

The release included comments from several lawmakers about the situation in Cuba and the U.S. policy toward the island. U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal said she visited Cuba two months ago and saw what she described as the devastation and destruction of the U.S. blockade firsthand. She said people were living without electricity to power refrigerators or gas for cars, and that doctors were keeping babies alive in incubators running on generator power. Jayapal said she left Cuba shocked by what she described as the inhumane effects of U.S. policy and called for the blockade and embargo to be lifted and relations between the two countries to be normalized.

U.S. Representative Ro Khanna said people in Cuba cannot get critical healthcare or access medicine, and said Trump’s economic and military aggression is causing a human rights crisis. He said he stands with National Nurses United and his colleagues in calling for an end to the blockade.

U.S. Representative Delia Ramirez said that history has shown peace and democracy have never been realized through strongmen, United States imperialism, or unilateral military intervention. She said Trump and Rubio have established another blockade against Cuba and described it as immoral, inexcusable, and cruel. Ramirez said the blockade has cut Cubans off from healthcare, safe food, potable water, and security, and said she stands with Cubans demanding self-determination, freedom, and safety. She said the U.S. must become good neighbors and end the blockade and the siege on the Cuban people.

U.S. Representative Jonathan Jackson said U.S. foreign policy should be grounded in humanitarian principles, meaningful engagement, and respect for shared humanity. He said that in April, as a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Congressional Black Caucus, he traveled to Havana to assess the humanitarian impact of the Trump administration’s newest blockade. Jackson said he witnessed the harsh reality facing the Cuban people, who are managing a severe shortage of essential supplies. He said Cuban health care professionals are resilient and dedicated, but that no health system can operate under those conditions. He called on the U.S. to end what he described as collective punishment by suspending coercive economic measures and military pressures against Cuba and entering real negotiations that provide dignity and freedom for the Cuban people.

The announcement said that without essential oil resources, and with a sharp increase in U.S. sanctions, Cubans are experiencing frequent blackouts, shortages of gasoline and cooking gas, and dwindling supplies of diesel used to power the nation’s water pumps. It said the shortages are having a particularly severe impact on health care delivery.

The release also said recent reporting indicates that tens of thousands of Cubans have had to forgo medical treatments, including surgeries, and that three-quarters of essential medicines are entirely unavailable on the island. It added that the U.N. has warned infant mortality has doubled and that fuel shortages have hurt food production, with output down by more than 60 percent, contributing to a sharp rise in food costs.

National Nurses United said its nurses have donated to Global Health Partners to support the Cuban people. The organization said Global Health Partners has brought millions of dollars worth of lifesaving medicines and surgical supplies to the island. It said the group’s most recent programs have focused on reversing Cuba’s fast-rising infant mortality rate.

National Nurses United describes itself as the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States, with more than 225,000 members nationwide. Its affiliates include the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, DC Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, and New York State Nurses Association.