1. United States
2. N.Y.
3. Letter

I am writing to demand immediate congressional intervention to halt the Trump administration’s escalating policies toward Cuba, which are driving the island toward a deepening humanitarian crisis and threatening severe harm to millions of civilians. Current U.S. actions — including aggressive sanctions, energy restrictions, and policies designed to economically isolate Cuba — are not abstract geopolitical tools. They are producing real and measurable human consequences: prolonged power outages, worsening shortages of food and medicine, collapsing public services, and rising risks of mass suffering. Policies framed as pressure on a government are instead functioning as collective punishment against an entire population. This approach is not only morally indefensible; it raises serious human rights concerns. When economic coercion foreseeably results in widespread deprivation among civilians, Congress has a duty to act. The United States cannot claim to defend human rights while knowingly pursuing policies that risk pushing a neighboring country toward famine conditions or humanitarian breakdown. Statements and actions from senior officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, signal a long-standing ideological campaign aimed at forcing regime change. Regardless of one’s views on the Cuban government, regime change through economic strangulation is neither ethical nor effective. History shows that such policies entrench authoritarianism while inflicting suffering on ordinary people — families, workers, children, and the elderly who bear no responsibility for geopolitical disputes. The United States has no right to destabilize Cuba, to punish its population, or to pursue policies that risk triggering a humanitarian catastrophe in the Caribbean. Congress Must Act Now: - Launch immediate oversight hearings into the humanitarian impact of current U.S. policy toward Cuba, including energy restrictions and sanctions measures contributing to shortages. - Demand sworn testimony from State Department and administration officials explaining the legal basis, objectives, and expected humanitarian consequences of these policies. - Block funding or authorization for any escalation that could deepen economic collapse or move toward military intervention. - Mandate humanitarian carve-outs and safeguards ensuring access to fuel, food, medicine, and essential infrastructure support. - Reject regime-change strategies that violate international norms and undermine the rights and dignity of civilian populations. - Require transparent reporting on civilian impacts and independent humanitarian assessments. These policies abandon the principles of human rights, sovereignty, and international cooperation that the United States claims to champion. They also undermine regional stability and risk triggering migration crises, economic collapse, and long-term instability across the Caribbean. We cannot claim to defend democracy while pursuing strategies that knowingly endanger civilian populations. We cannot champion human rights abroad while ignoring the human cost of our own policies. Congress must step in now — not after a humanitarian disaster unfolds, but before. The Cuban people are not geopolitical pawns. They deserve dignity, safety, and the chance to determine their own future free from coercion, economic warfare, or forced collapse. I urge you to act immediately and decisively.