Ramón Saúl Sánchez Challenges U.S. Embargo on Cuba: "A Grand Deception"

Ramón Saúl Sánchez, the leader of the Democracy Movement and a historical figure in the Cuban exile community, has openly criticized the U.S. embargo on Cuba during an interview with Tania Costa. He stated, "I don't believe in the embargo. It's the biggest deception the U.S. foreign policy has given us, with the approval of some here."

The statement, highlighted in a segment of the program, dismantles two opposing narratives that Sánchez argues are equally false. "Those over there (the regime) claim that the embargo is destroying Cuba, while those here say it's liberating Cuba. Both are lies," he asserts.

Sánchez's central argument is that the embargo doesn't impact the regime as much as is often claimed, because trade continues in practice. "In the United States, everything is sold to the regime and the Cuban people, benefiting the regime," he explains. Meanwhile, the Cuban population relies on remittances from relatives abroad to avoid starvation.

Questioning the Effectiveness of Sanctions

Sánchez illustrates his skepticism with specific examples of the futility of certain individual sanctions. He points out that imposing restrictions on the head of the military section of the Cuban Embassy in Russia, or having sanctioned Ramiro Valdés during his lifetime, are hollow measures. "These individuals don't have assets in the U.S. and don't need to enter the country, so the sanctions are meaningless to them," he notes.

However, Sánchez clarifies that he doesn't reject all sanctions entirely. "I'm not saying sanctions shouldn't be applied in many cases, but that they aren't the sole solution," he remarks. His criticism is directed at portraying them as the primary or only tool to achieve change in Cuba.

A Call for Empowerment Through Internet Access

Instead, Sánchez proposes a more potent alternative: providing internet access to the Cuban people. He suggests that its absence is no coincidence. In his view, if Cubans could communicate and feel supported when protesting, the demonstrations would grow into "the internal, sovereign, and indigenous factor that shakes off this tyranny."

This interview comes amid ongoing protests in Cuba. The Cuban Conflict Observatory documented 1,311 demonstrations in May 2026, with a slight decrease in August, while Cubalex recorded 319 repressive events in June alone. The regime has responded with militarization, arrests, and systematic internet and mobile data cuts, directly reinforcing Sánchez's argument.

Backdrop of Secret Negotiations

The immediate context of the interview includes revelations by the Nuevo Herald about secret negotiations between the Trump administration and the Cuban government, exploring the privatization of CUPET and the resignation of Díaz-Canel as conditions for a transition agreement. Sánchez was the first to speak out against this model when initial contacts were revealed, calling them an "offense and humiliation" for the Cuban people in March 2026.

Havana has estimated the embargo's cost between March 2025 and February 2026 at a record $8.083 billion, a figure the regime uses to blame Washington for the crisis. For Sánchez, this narrative is precisely the "rotten merchandise" that U.S. foreign policy ends up feeding with measures that sound strong but change nothing on the Island. It's important to note that fuel exports to Cuba have surged to nearly $157 million this year.