National Nurses United (NNU), the nation’s largest union of registered nurses, today condemned the Trump administration’s blockade on Cuba, which has created a humanitarian crisis on the island. The nurses called on the administration and Congress to end the blockade and allow full delivery of oil resources and other aid for the Cuban people.

Following its military assault on Venezuela and the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January, the Trump administration initiated a blockade of oil shipments to Cuba, and it announced plans to impose tariffs on countries that provide oil to the island nation.

Those actions created frequent blackouts, shortages of gasoline and cooking gas, and dwindling supplies of diesel that power the nation’s water pumps. The impact has been particularly severe on health care services. Cuba’s Health Minister José Ángel Portal Miranda warned of an imminent threat to “basic human safety.”

“Depriving the Cuban people of essential resources needed to sustain life and health is an unconscionable violation of human rights and international law,” said NNU President Mary Turner, RN. “What is now widely reported is a calamity with an especially harmful effect on pregnant women and children. As nurses, we will not be silent when our nation’s policies cause immense suffering for any people, whether at home or abroad.”

“The announcement today that the U.S. Department of the Treasury would allow the resale of Venezuelan oil for ‘commercial and humanitarian use’ in Cuba is a start, but does not go nearly far enough to address the growing calamity faced by the Cuban people,” Turner said.

Portal has warned that 5 million people in Cuba living with chronic illnesses will face disruption of medications or treatments, including 16,000 cancer patients requiring radiotherapy and another 12,400 undergoing chemotherapy. “Cardiovascular care, orthopedics, oncology, and treatment for critically ill patients who require electrical backup are among the most impacted areas,” he reported.

“It is long past time for a complete reversal in the regime-change policies of the U.S. in Cuba,” said Turner. The U.S. has carried out a blockade against Cuba since 1962 that has been condemned in overwhelming votes by the United Nations for 33 consecutive years.

NNU urged members of Congress to support legislative proposals to finally end the blockade, as represented by H.R. 7521, introduced by Massachusetts Rep. Jim McGovern. Turner said, NNU agrees with McGovern. She stated, “It’s time to throw away the failed policies of the past. Let’s focus on the people of Cuba — and let’s treat them like human beings who want to live their lives in dignity and freedom. The Cuban people — not politicians in Washington — ought to decide their own leaders and their own future.”

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