&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "US sanctions pushing Cuba into full blown crisis: UN experts urge Security Council action")
United Nations rights experts on Thursday (August 06) urged the international community to act quickly, warning that expanding US sanctions could push Cuba into a "full-blown crisis" and worsen the humanitarian situation on the island.
Cuba has been under a US trade embargo since 1962. However, the experts said pressure has intensified in recent months after President Donald Trump expanded economic measures, including restrictions affecting the country's fuel supplies.
The experts said the latest sanctions announced on July 23 targeted Cuba's energy sector, making fuel procurement even more difficult, including for humanitarian purposes. The measures came as the country faces acute fuel shortages and recently experienced its third major nationwide blackout.
"The humanitarian consequences are already unfolding into a full-blown crisis, threatening the health rights, to life, to food and to development," the experts said. They also pointed to reports of uncollected waste in parts of Havana, warning that it has increased the risk of disease outbreaks.
Trump's Cuba policy under scrutiny
The experts said the US has expanded unilateral sanctions targeting key sectors of Cuba's economy since June 2026.
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Under Trump's second administration, an Executive Order signed in January 2026 declared a national emergency regarding Cuba and authorised US tariffs on countries supplying crude oil to the island.
Another signed in May imposed secondary sanctions on non-US entities and foreign financial institutions that conduct business with Cuban state institutions or the military-run conglomerate GAESA.
Experts said living conditions have worsened since the energy restrictions began in January. Millions of Cubans now struggle to access water, food and transport, while shortages of medicines and other essential supplies continue to grow.
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UN calls for immediate global response
The experts said UN agencies working in Cuba have already warned of rising food insecurity and shortages of medicines and basic necessities.
"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," they said.
"The US government must cease all threats and hostile acts against Cuba's sovereignty and revoke all measures it has imposed on the country that stand contrary to international law."
The experts urged the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly to take up the issue urgently as a matter of international peace and security. The statement was issued by UN special rapporteurs, who serve independently under mandates from the Human Rights Council and do not speak on behalf of the United Nations.
