Former Caribbean leaders condemn US oil measures against Cuba

A group of former Caribbean leaders has called on the United States to rescind its oil embargo against Cuba, describing the move as “economic warfare” that is causing severe hardship for the Cuban people.

In a statement released yesterday, the former heads of government said they were deeply concerned about what they described as a worsening humanitarian crisis on the island.

The signatories include former Guyana President Donald Ramotar, and former prime ministers Freundel Stuart of Barbados, Edison James of Dominica, Tillman Thomas of Grenada, Bruce Golding and P. J. Patterson of Jamaica, Kenny Anthony of Saint Lucia, and Keith Rowley of Trinidad and Tobago.

The former leaders said they were “perturbed at the deepening humanitarian crisis in Cuba and are impelled to make public this appeal to avert further human destruction.”

According to the statement, an executive order issued by the United States on January 29, 2026 — targeting countries that provide oil to Cuba without the imposition of punitive tariffs — amounts to “economic warfare and inflicts unconscionable suffering upon the Cuban people.”

They further argued that the universal principle of dialogue to resolve conflicts and disputes “cannot be abandoned on the altar of the mighty powerful waging political vendettas against smaller nations by economic warfare.”

The statement warned that the fuel restrictions could have devastating consequences for the island’s population of roughly 11 million people, affecting energy supplies, food distribution, medication, education and everyday livelihoods.

The former leaders also pointed to the historic decision made on December 8, 1972, when Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago established diplomatic relations with Cuba, ending what they described as the hemisphere’s economic isolation of the country.

For more than five decades, the statement said, Cuba has provided support to the Caribbean through medical brigades, scholarships, sports programmes and disaster relief, often without requesting reciprocal assistance.

They noted that successive Caribbean governments have supported United Nations General Assembly resolutions calling for an end to the U.S. embargo on Cuba, which they said has repeatedly been condemned by an overwhelming majority of member states.

The former leaders argued that the international community “cannot remain mute and indolent while a fatal pernicious fuel tourniquet stifles the Cuban economy and suffocates human lives there.”

They urged the immediate repeal of any measures that could deepen the humanitarian crisis and undermine international law, while also encouraging the global community to provide assistance to Cuba.

“We call upon the International Community to provide Cuba with desperately needed humanitarian assistance. We stand with the people of Cuba. We stand as the Zone of Peace. We stand for a shared Caribbean Future,” the statement said.