Cuba calls US sanctions an 'economic war', China says lift them, Trump says 'we want to help Cuba'

Three governments, three reports. Each report we hold carries one government's view. None carries a second view.

What each report leaves out. Al Jazeera English attributes the "economic war" charge to the minister and does not state it as fact. Life.ru uses a softer word in its text than in its headline. The Jerusalem Post quotes Trump alone and does not mention the sanctions. It carries no reply from Cuba.

Who bears it. The only people described as harmed are "the Cuban people", in Rodríguez's words to Al Jazeera English. No report names a person or gives a number.

What is not settled - Which measures are being argued over. None of the three reports names one. - What the sanctions cost Cubans. None of the three reports gives a figure. - What deal Trump means. The Jerusalem Post does not say, and it does not link his remarks to the UN speeches. - We hold only the opening line of Al Jazeera English's report.

What this is about. The United States restricts almost all trade with Cuba, and Cuba, backed by allies such as China, uses the UN each September to press for an end to it.

How it got here. Fidel Castro's revolution took power in Cuba in 1959. It nationalised US-owned property and allied with the Soviet Union. Washington answered with trade restrictions from 1960, and President Kennedy made them a near-total embargo in February 1962. Congress later wrote the embargo into law: the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 and the Helms-Burton Act of 1996. Because of those laws, only Congress can fully lift it. Every year since 1992 the UN General Assembly has passed a resolution calling for the embargo to end. Those resolutions do not bind anyone. Barack Obama restored diplomatic relations in 2015 and eased some rules. Donald Trump reversed much of that in his first term, and in January 2021 put Cuba back on the US list of state sponsors of terrorism. Joe Biden took Cuba off the list in January 2025. Trump put it back on after he returned to office that same month.

The actors. Cuba is governed by its Communist Party. Its foreign minister, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, calls the embargo the main cause of its hardship. The US government says the measures are meant to press Havana on political freedoms. China is a one-party state, a long-standing ally and creditor of Cuba, and opposes sanctions imposed by a single country. Han Zheng is China's vice-president.

What is at stake. The embargo shapes what Cuba can import, including food, fuel and medicine, and who will trade with or lend to it. Whether it is the main cause of Cuba's economic crisis or one cause among several is disputed.

Where it stands. On 26 September, the General Assembly's 81st session heard Cuba and China call for the measures to end. The same day Trump said he expects a deal. None of the three reports says what that deal would contain.