A group of United Nations human rights experts issued an urgent warning on Thursday, calling on the international community to take immediate action to prevent US sanctions from pushing Cuba into a full-blown humanitarian crisis. While the Caribbean nation has been subject to a US trade embargo since 1962, the experts noted that recent months have seen a dramatic increase in pressure under President Donald Trump, including threats to take over the island and the cutoff of fuel supplies.
The experts highlighted that Washington's implementation of an effective oil blockade, alongside various other sanctions, has severely exacerbated economic conditions. These actions have triggered major shortages and widespread power outages, causing failures in essential sectors such as energy, transport, and irrigation. According to the report, these disruptions are disproportionately impacting vulnerable populations, specifically children, women, and the elderly.
"The humanitarian consequences are already unfolding into a full-blown crisis, threatening the rights to health, to life, to food and to development," the experts stated. They emphasized that since the energy blockade was launched in January, daily life for millions of Cubans has become increasingly difficult, with basic tasks such as securing food, accessing water, and maintaining regular sleep schedules becoming significant challenges.
UN agencies operating within Cuba have further warned of rising risks regarding food insecurity and the scarcity of medical supplies and other basic necessities. Addressing the political nature of these measures, the experts asserted, "Food must never be used as an instrument of political pressure. Measures that knowingly deprive a population of the means to survive strike at the most basic guarantees of the rights to life and diminish the core of human dignity."
The experts, who serve as independent figures mandated by the Human Rights Council, concluded by demanding that the US government cease all hostile acts and threats against Cuban sovereignty, urging the immediate revocation of measures that contradict international law. Furthermore, they called upon the UN General Assembly and the Security Council in New York to treat the situation as an urgent matter of international peace and security. The statement was prepared by special rapporteurs focusing on the right to food, development, and the negative impacts of unilateral coercive measures.
