LAS MINAS, Cuba (AP) — Eduardo Obiols Sobredo struggles to feed Cubans young and old, a task even harder now because of aU.S. energy blockadethat has caused sweeping water and power outages along with severe gas shortages.

“I feel like crying,” the 58-year-old farmer said. “It’s so sad to see crops grown with so much effort go to waste, especially when you know there are so many who need them.”

Farming equipment is falling silent acrossCuba, withno fuelto power it. Farmers like Obiols Sobredo are turning to animal and manual labor, but not everyone can afford it, and resources are limited.

As a result,poverty is deepening and hunger is increasingacross Cuba, a country of nearly 10 million people. The quality and quantity of fruit and vegetables is diminishing, and prices are surging even further beyond the means of many across the island nation.

While theIran warpinches energy supplies around the world, Cuba is the rare place blaming the Trump administration’s targeted actions instead.

Cuba spent three monthswithout a fuel shipmentafter theU.S. attacked Venezuela, a key supplier, andthreatened tariffson any country that sells or supplies oil to Cuba.

The island was already suffocating under a sharp increase in longtime U.S. sanctions, which prevent it from importing certain goods. The Trump administration demands that Cuba’s socialist government release political prisoners, implement major economic reforms and change its way of governance to avoid becoming a national security threat. Cuba has repeatedly said it poses no threat to the U.S.

As tensions remain high, top-ranking officials are visiting farmers across Cuba, urging them to step up production so the country can be even more self-sufficient.

But the effects of the U.S. energy blockade are stark in the town of Las Minas, which has 65 farmers and only 18 oxen.

Obiols Sobredo rents the animals and their handlers when they’re available, but he relies on manual labor for smaller jobs on his farm. He grows tomatoes, sorghum, cassava and other crops. He also raises goats, whose milk is served at schools.

Source: Drudge Report