Cuba tourism collapses as US pressure campaign bites
Summary
Foreign tourism to Cuba has dropped sharply in early 2026 due to stronger US sanctions. These sanctions have caused airlines and hotel companies to halt business, worsening fuel and supply shortages in the country.Key Facts
- Fewer than 360,000 tourists visited Cuba in the first five months of 2026, down 58.4% from last year.
- The US government targeted Cuba’s tourism sector to pressure its communist leadership.
- Air Canada stopped flights to Cuba because of fuel shortages and political uncertainty.
- Spanish hotel chains Meliá and Iberostar closed many hotels to comply with US rules against doing business with Cuba’s military-controlled conglomerate Gaesa.
- Gaesa is accused by US officials of keeping profits for a small elite and repressing critics.
- US sanctions and an oil blockade have worsened Cuba’s shortages of fuel, medicine, food, and electricity.
- Power cuts and resource shortages have led to protests, and items like communion wafers are running low.
- Cuba’s state media reported a drop in the survival rate for children with cancer since the new sanctions began.
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