Washington DC - Representatives Pramila Jayapal and Jonathan Jackson have called for an immediate halt to the US blockade after a five-day visit to Cuba.

"The illegal U.S. blockade of fuel to Cuba – 90 miles south of the United States – adds to the longest embargo in world history and is causing untold suffering to the Cuban people," the two Democrats said in a joint statement.

"This is cruel collective punishment – effectively an economic bombing of the infrastructure of the country – that has produced permanent damage. It must stop immediately," they added.

Jayapal and Jackson noted they had "witnessed firsthand premature babies in incubators, weighing just two pounds, who are at tremendous risk because their ventilators and incubators cannot function without electricity."

Pete Hegseth Hegseth's chief of staff spreads wild rumor about a drunken night out together

"Children cannot attend school because there is no fuel for them or their teachers to travel," the statement continues. "Cancer patients cannot receive lifesaving treatments because of lack of medications. There is a water shortage because there is little electricity to pump water. Businesses have closed. Families cannot keep food refrigerated, and food production on the island has dropped to just 10 percent of the people's needs."

Late last month, Jayapal and House colleague Gregory Meeks introduced legislation – dubbed the Prevent an Unconstitutional War in Cuba Act – which would bar the Trump administration from using federal funding in military actions against Cuba without congressional approval.

President Donald Trump said in March that he believed he would have "the honor of taking Cuba."

"Whether I free it, take it – think I could do anything I want with it, you want to know the truth. They're a very weakened nation right now," the Republican president told reporters.

In response, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said the US would face "unbreakable resistance" if it tried to take over the country.

The lawmakers' visit came after an international aid convoy last month arrived in Cuba by air and by sea, delivering thousands of pounds of medical supplies and other goods.

The aid convoy – inspired by the global flotilla missions to Gaza – was intended as a demonstration of unwavering solidarity with the Cuban people under US economic assault.

The Trump administration has sought to cut off the Caribbean island's access to fuel after authorizing a military operation in January to abduct President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela, the country's primary oil supplier.

Donald Trump Is Trump missing? MAGA fends off rumors president is MIA amid health concerns

Now, Jayapal and Jackson are calling for an end to the Trump administration's brutal actions toward the island nation.

"We heard from a wide variety of voices – families, religious leaders, entrepreneurs, civil society organizations, the Cuban government, Latin American and African ambassadors, humanitarian aid organizations, and Cubans across the political spectrum, including dissidents," the members of Congress said.

"Across all sectors, there is agreement: this illegal blockade must end immediately. We do not believe that the majority of Americans would want this kind of cruelty and inhumanity to continue in our name."

"The United States and Cuba must immediately enter into real negotiations that provide for the dignity and freedom of the Cuban people and the tremendous benefits to the American people that will accrue from a real collaboration between our two countries."