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Add to Preferred SourcesUN human rights experts on 6 August 2026 condemned recent measures imposed by the United States against Cuba, denouncing them as an attempt to alter the constitutional order of a sovereign State through threats and coercion, according to a press release by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The experts urged the international community and civil society to act swiftly to prevent a “silent Gaza” from unfolding on the island, as recently invoked by four members of the US Congress during their visit to Cuba. They warned that the humanitarian consequences are already escalating into a full-blown crisis. The experts called for the immediate revocation of measures they described as contrary to international law. Their statement was issued from Geneva.
The United States has expanded unilateral sanctions targeting key sectors of the Cuban economy since June 2026. The latest sanctions, announced on 23 July, include energy companies, further blocking fuel procurements even for humanitarian reasons. Cuba is currently facing acute fuel shortages and has recently experienced its third major nationwide blackout. Energy, transport, irrigation, and basic services are failing simultaneously. The disruptions disproportionately affect women, children, older persons, and other vulnerable groups, including peasant farmers in the rural economy.
UN agencies in Cuba have warned of mounting risks of food insecurity and shortages of medicines and basic necessities. Repeated national grid collapses and prolonged blackouts have disrupted health care services. These disruptions are causing critical shortages of medicines and cancer-treatment capacity. Reports indicate that uncollected waste is accumulating in parts of Havana, deepening the serious risk of diseases spreading. The experts said the situation threatens the rights to health, to life, to food, and to development.
On 20 July, the US State Department released a report entitled “Cuba: The Capital of 21st-Century Communism,” describing Cuba as a multifaceted threat to US national security and hemispheric stability. The experts observed that the report offers no concrete evidence that Cuba supports terrorism or subversive activity. They expressed concern that only political and ideological considerations appear to justify the continuation of coercive measures.
“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 said.
The experts stressed that the unlawful unilateral coercive measures against Cuba contravene Article 2 of the UN Charter and form part of a broader regime-change strategy encompassing the decades-long embargo. They called on the US Government to cease all threats and hostile acts against Cuba’s sovereignty. They further urged the Security Council and General Assembly to urgently address these threats as a matter of international peace and security. The statement was endorsed by several Special Rapporteurs, an Independent Expert, and the Working Group on Peasants and other people working in rural areas. The experts reaffirmed their call for full compliance with international law.