The spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Marta Hurtado, alleged this Friday (13) that United States sanctions on Cuba, especially the recent tariff on American imports from countries that send oil to the island, violate the UN Charter.
Speaking in Geneva, Hurtado said that such measures “affect the most vulnerable, are not effective and are not in compliance with the United Nations Charter or international law, as sanctions such as these must be imposed by the Security Council [da ONU]and not by a single country.”
At the end of January, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, announced the application of tariffs on products imported from countries that send oil to Cuba, alleging that the Castro dictatorship serves as a basis for espionage and military actions by Russia, China and terrorist groups that threaten American national security.
Faced with this measure, Mexico, the largest oil exporter to Cuba in 2025, suspended shipments. This week, Russia, an ally of the Havana regime, said it will defy the Trump administration and send oil to the Caribbean island soon.
“We are extremely concerned about the deepening socioeconomic crisis in Cuba – amid decades of financial and trade embargo, extreme weather events and recent US measures restricting oil exports. This is having an increasingly severe impact on the human rights of the Cuban population,” said Hurtado.
The OHCHR spokesperson claimed that, “given the dependence of health, food and water systems on imported fossil fuels, the current oil shortage has put the availability of essential services across the country at risk.”
Hurtado dedicated only a small part of his speech to human rights violations in Cuba, when he made an appeal to the authorities of the Castro regime.
“The State, in turn, needs to ensure it is prepared to respond in accordance with international human rights law, being attentive to the needs of the most vulnerable and prioritizing mediation, de-escalation and safeguarding the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression for all,” the spokeswoman said.
