Latest update March 26th, 2026 7:55 AM
Repeal U.S. oil embargo on Cuba – Fmr Caribbean leaders
…call on Int’l community to provide urgent humanitarian aid to avert crisis
(Kaieteur News) – Former Caribbean Heads of State and Government have issued a public appeal calling for urgent action to prevent what they describe as a “deepening humanitarian crisis” in Cuba.
In a statement attributed to former Guyanese President Donald Ramotar and former prime ministers Keith Rowley, Kenny Anthony, Bruce Golding, Edison James, Tillman Thomas, P. J. Patterson and Freundel Stuart, the leaders said they are “perturbed” by the situation unfolding in Cuba.
They pointed to the January 29, 2026 Executive Order issued by the United States against any nation providing oil to Cuba without the imposition of punitive, discriminatory tariffs, arguing that it amounts to economic warfare and inflicts “unconscionable suffering” on the Cuban people.
CNN recently reported that Cuba may be experiencing the most profound moment of economic uncertainty that the island’s residents have endured in decades if not over their entire lives. Through military action in Venezuela and threats of tariffs on Mexico, the Trump administration has shut off the flow of oil to Cuba, attempting to strong-arm the communist-run island into making significant political and economic reforms. As the crisis drags on, life is slowly grinding to a halt across this island of nearly 10 million people, the media entity said.
People walk next to trash on a street in Havana, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa) Ramon Espinosa/AP)
“The consequences of this horrific fuel blockade are catastrophic and constitute cruel punishment of the 11 million civilians by the strangulation of Cuba’s vital requirements for energy, food, medication, education and basic livelihood,” the former leaders noted.
They noted that the universal principle of dialogue to resolve conflicts and disputes must not be abandoned in favour of what they described as political vendettas waged by powerful nations against smaller states through economic measures.
They recalled that on December 8, 1972, the prime ministers of Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago established diplomatic relations with Cuba, asserting their sovereign right to end the hemispheric economic isolation of a neighbouring Caribbean state.
For more than five decades, they noted, Cuba has demonstrated solidarity with the region through medical brigades, scholarships, sports cooperation and disaster relief, offering assistance during times of need without requesting reciprocal support.
“We, during our tenure over the last 33 years, have been inspired and imbued by the courage and foresight of our predecessors at the helm to consistently sponsor and support the Resolutions at UN General Assembly for the termination of the illegal financial and economic embargo by the US against Cuba. That abhorrent embargo was condemned by an overwhelming majority of Member States, including 4 permanent members of the Security Council,” the former leaders stated.
They further noted that the global community cannot remain silent while a “fatal pernicious fuel torniquet” stifles the Cuban economy and suffocates human lives there.
“We advocate the imperative of repealing immediately any decree that will result in an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Cuba and undermine the tenets of international law,” the former leaders stated.
Additionally, the statement emphasised that the foundation of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) rests on the right of each sovereign state to promote regional solidarity and advance comprehensive cooperation. The leaders expressed confidence that Caribbean citizens would support any decision by regional governments to provide tangible material assistance to Cuba during this period.
It was stated, “We will never accept the doctrine that might makes right. Economic warfare waged on differences of ideology and political systems is no less odious in our single universe than military invasion anywhere for territorial aggrandizement.”
Endorsing findings by UN human rights experts that the Executive Order violates international law, the former leaders urged the United States Government to rescind what they described as “inhumane weapon of mass destruction,” and called on the international community to provide Cuba with urgently needed humanitarian assistance.
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