Tightening U.S. sanctions on Cuba are likely the main cause for the sharp increase in the island’s infant mortality rate from 2018 to 2025. That’s according to a new report by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, which found the infant mortality rate in Cuba has increased by 148% and is likely to get worse due to harsher sanctions under President Trump’s second term. Infants with cancer have been particularly impacted as hospitals and clinics face extended power blackouts and diminishing medical supplies. CEPR’s Director of International Policy Alexander Main, one of the report’s co-authors, said, “The Trump policy of 'maximum pressure' on Cuba has killed a lot of babies … it’s highly likely that more babies are dying now, and at an even higher rate than last year as a result of the current U.S. fuel blockade targeting Cuba.”