Urgent Opposition to the U.S. Economic Blockade, Escalating Sanctions, and the Threat of Military Action Against Cuba

by

US ELAM ALUMNI ASSOCIATION United States Medical Graduates of the Latin American School of Medicine — Cuba

We, the members of the US ELAM Alumni Association — United States physicians trained at the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) in Havana, Cuba — write in urgent opposition to the U.S. economic blockade against Cuba, its escalating sanctions regime, and the mounting threat of military intervention. Cuba educated us — many of us from low-income and minority communities long excluded from medical opportunity in our own country — entirely free of charge. More than 30,000 physicians from over 100 nations have received the same gift. We took an oath to protect life. That oath compels us to speak.

The human cost of this blockade is documented and devastating. An April 2026 report by the Center for Economic and Policy Research found Cuba’s infant mortality rate rose 148% — from 4.0 to 9.9 per 1,000 live births — between 2018 and 2025, representing an estimated 1,800 preventable infant deaths. Over 460 essential medications are in shortage; only 3% of Cubans can find needed medicines in state pharmacies. President Trump’s January 2026 executive order collapsing Cuba’s oil supply has forced hospitals to cancel surgeries, left staff unable to reach patients, and cut power to wards caring for newborns. A 2025 Lancet Global Health study estimated that broad unilateral sanctions cause approximately 564,000 deaths per year globally. Cuba is a real-time example of that toll.