US energy blockade leaves Cuban farmers struggling to feed a nation

ABC NewsLiveVideoShowsShopInterest Successfully AddedWe'll notify you here with news aboutTurn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? OffOnStream onUS energy blockade leaves Cuban farmers struggling to feed a nationFarmers across Cuba are struggling to feed the country amid a U.S. energy blockade that's causing severe shortagesByDÁNICA COTO Associated PressApril 28, 2026, 12:17 AM1:19Farmworkers travel in an ox-drawn cart in Minas, Havana province, Cuba, Monday, April 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)The Associated PressLAS MINAS, Cuba -- Eduardo Obiols Sobredo struggles to feed Cubans young and old, a task even harder now because of a U.S. energy blockade that has caused sweeping water and power outages along with severe gas shortages.“I feel like crying,” the 58-year-old farmer said. “It’s so sad to see crops grown with so much effort go to waste, especially when you know there are so many who need them.”Farming equipment is falling silent across Cuba, with no fuel to power it. Farmers like Obiols Sobredo are turning to animal and manual labor, but not everyone can afford it, and resources are limited.As a result, poverty is deepening and hunger is increasing across Cuba, a country of nearly 10 million people. The quality and quantity of fruit and vegetables is diminishing, and prices are surging even further beyond the means of many across the island nation.While the Iran war pinches energy supplies around the world, Cuba is the rare place blaming the Trump administration's targeted actions instead.Cuba spent three months without a fuel shipment after the U.S. attacked Venezuela, a key supplier, and threatened tariffs on any country that sells or supplies oil to Cuba.The island was already suffocating under a sharp increase in longtime U.S. sanctions, which prevent it from importing certain goods. The Trump administration demands that Cuba's socialist government release political prisoners, implement major economic reforms and change its way of governance to avoid becoming a national security threat. Cuba has repeatedly said it poses no threat to the U.S.As tensions remain high, top-ranking officials are visiting farmers across Cuba, urging them to step up production so the country can be even more self-sufficient.But the effects of the U.S. energy blockade are stark in the town of Las Minas, which has 65 farmers and only 18 oxen.Obiols Sobredo rents the animals and their handlers when they're available, but he relies on manual labor for smaller jobs on his farm. He grows tomatoes, sorghum, cassava and other crops. He also raises goats, whose milk is served at schools.He and others farmers are part of a network that supports Cuba's most vulnerable, including people in orphanages and nursing homes.Clearing his land once took 15 minutes with farm equipment. It now takes at least three days. January was the last time he received the usual monthly supply of gasoline from the government.“It has forced us to take other kinds of actions in order to survive,” Obiols Sobredo said.The lack of petroleum also means the delivery truck doesn’t always arrive, forcing farmers to use what little gas they have to transport milk to a location where they freeze it, in the hope it won't spoil before being picked up.Power outages also prevent Obiols Sobredo from grinding food for his goats, which produce less milk because of insufficient nutrition.He also can’t water his crops enough. A nonprofit last year financed a solar…

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