Havana, Dec 6 (Prensa Latina) The Commission on International Relations of the Cuban National Assembly called on the peoples of Latin America, the Caribbean and the United States to defend the region today as a Zone of Peace in the face of growing US militarization in the area.

Through a statement, released yesterday, the Cuban legislators endorsed the denunciation of the president of the Latin American and Caribbean Parliament (Parlatino) on the disproportionate deployment of US naval and air forces in the Caribbean, which includes a nuclear submarine and thousands of military personnel.

The commission noted that dozens of people have already died in attacks by US forces against civilian vessels, which it described as extrajudicial executions and flagrant violations of international law.

They warned that, under pretext of combating drug trafficking, the current administration of the White House seeks to “bring about the overthrow of the constitutional government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela” and appropriate its natural resources.

They also condemned Washington’s recent decision to arbitrarily close Venezuelan airspace, which they described as a “very serious threat” and an act of “psychological war”, in line with the condemnation expressed days ago by Foreign Ministerr Bruno Rodriguez.

Cuban parliamentarians denounced that the recent militarization in the Caribbean responds to the “philosophy of imperial domination” based on the Monroe Doctrine and constitutes a “gross interference” in sovereign affairs of the region.

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Cuba reiterated its solidarity with all the peoples who are victims of these policies and demanded their immediate, total and unconditional lifting.

December 4, 2025 — teleSUR

This Thursday, December 4, on the occasion of the  first celebration of the International Day against Unilateral Coercive Measures,  promoted by the United Nations (UN) to raise global awareness of their negative impacts, the representative of Cuba issued one of the most forceful interventions of the day, denouncing before the General Assembly that these sanctions imposed without the endorsement of the Security Council constitute “instruments of political punishment that harm entire peoples with the same aggressiveness as any form of direct violence . “

The Cuban representative emphasized that the unilateral coercive measures, presented by the United States as supposed tools of “diplomatic pressure,” are in reality illegal mechanisms , contrary to international law and the Charter of the United Nations. He also noted that these practices currently affect more than 76 developing countries , representing more than a third of the world’s population.

Cuba warned that between March 2024 and February 2025 , the effects of these sanctions caused damages estimated at more than $7.5 billion , resulting in limitations on acquiring food, fuel, medicine, medical supplies, and basic goods for daily life. “The humanitarian impact is real, palpable, and devastating,” the delegation emphasized.

The Cuban intervention was particularly critical of the expansive use of these measures by the United States government. Cuba denounced Washington’s attempt to establish itself as the arbiter of who lives, who produces, who trades, and who develops , imposing economic sanctions without legal justification and without being accountable to any multilateral organization.

“The world cannot accept ,” the Cuban delegation said, “ that a single state, however powerful, should place itself above international law . No country has the authority to punish the rest of the planet. We do not accept this claim to power.”

The Cuban delegation endorsed the appointment of the Special Advisor on Unilateral Coercive Measures , considering this mechanism an essential tool for documenting the humanitarian and legal impact of sanctions. Cuba also reiterated its solidarity with all peoples affected by these policies and demanded their immediate, total, and unconditional lifting .

Cuba concluded its intervention by noting that the General Assembly has a historic responsibility to prevent unilateral sanctions from becoming normalized as a weapon of geopolitical pressure . “To truly fulfill our promise to leave no one behind, we must eliminate these inhumane measures,” it concluded.

Author: teleSUR: cc – RR

Source: UN

November 26, 2025 — Belly of the Beast

Alena Douhan, the United Nations special rapporteur on unilateral coercive measures, spent 10 days in Cuba meeting with stakeholders on the impact of sanctions. In a press conference at the end of her visit, she called on the U.S. to stop sanctioning the island.

After a week and a half of fieldwork, United Nations Special Rapporteur Alena Douhan described U.S. sanctions as “a breach of international law,” which undermine “the enjoyment of human rights, including the rights to life, food, health and development.” She added: “I call on the United States to lift and suspend all unilateral coercive measures applied to Cuba.”

Douhan’s full report on her findings will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council in September 2026.

The ongoing US actions are ‘suffocating the social fabric of Cuban society’, according to the expert.

By Maziar Motamedi – 22 Nov 2025 — Aljazeera

The United States must lift unilateral sanctions imposed on Cuba as they are “causing significant effects across all aspects of life” more than six decades after they were imposed during the early part of Fidel Castro’s leadership, according to a senior United Nations expert.

The “extensive regime of economic, trade and financial restrictions” against the island nation marks the longest-running unilateral sanctions policy in US history, said Alena Douhan, special rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on human rights.

Only the US Congress can lift the Cold War-era embargo on communist-run Cuba, whose government has maintained that the country “will not surrender” to Washington’s “policy of collective punishment”.

“As a result, generations of Cubans have lived under unilateral coercive measures, which has shaped the country’s economic and social landscape,” Douhan said in a statement released on Friday.

The UN official cited reports that Washington’s imposed measures have progressively tightened since 2018, with further sanctions imposed on the already existing ones and a significant intensification in 2021 following Cuba’s re-designation as a so-called “state sponsor of terrorism”.

Other countries and international companies also over-comply with the embargoes in an effort to steer clear of being targeted with secondary sanctions, which Douhan said affects the government and the people’s ability for long-term planning, “suffocating the social fabric of Cuban society”.

US governments have for decades ignored international calls to remove the sanctions on Cuba, including the overwhelming UN General Assembly vote at the end of October that showed global support for an end to the embargo for a 33rd year.

According to the UN rapporteur, there are shortages of food, medicine, electricity, water, essential machinery and spare parts in Cuba, while a growing emigration of skilled workers, including medical staff, engineers and teachers, is further straining the country.

The accumulative effect has “severe consequences for the enjoyment of human rights, including the rights to life, food, health and development”, Douhan said.

Cuba has suffered a series of electricity blackouts, grid collapses that have rocked the island of 10 million over the past year.

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Even when the US issues very limited licences and exemptions, the UN expert said investors remain wary of committing to long-term projects since there could be a policy shift in Washington.

“I urge all states to adhere to international law principles and norms and ensure that humanitarian concerns are fully respected, grounded in principles of mutual respect, solidarity, cooperation and multilateralism,” she said.

Douhan will present a thorough report to the UN Human Rights Council on the effect of the US sanctions in September 2026, following meetings with government officials, international agencies, church representatives, members of academia, medical personnel and the private sector.

Havana, Nov 21 (Prensa Latina) The UN Human Rights Council’s Special Rapporteur, Alena Douhan, stated here today that the United States’ unilateral measures against Cuba lack legitimacy and affect the human rights of the population.

Photos: Vladimir Molina Espada

In presenting the preliminary findings of her investigations on the island to the national and foreign press, the official noted that such coercive actions affect all spheres of national life and directly harm its inhabitants, especially the most vulnerable groups.

He pointed out that these are especially damaging amid the problems the Caribbean nation is facing due to the international crisis, the onslaught of climate events, and internal economic difficulties.

He emphasized that the harmful effects of these are deepened by the politically motivated inclusion of the island in the State Department’s list of countries that allegedly sponsor terrorism.

Douhan recalled that since 1962 Cuba has suffered the US embargo, and this year that power extended the country’s presence on the aforementioned list, which causes serious economic damage and significantly hinders the efforts of the Caribbean nation to guarantee basic services and develop social policies.

In his visits and exchanges held since November 11 with various sectors of the country’s economic, political and social life, organizations, institutions and projects, Douhan witnessed firsthand the real impact of the blockade on the human rights of Cubans.

Such measures limit the State’s capacity to develop public policies, threaten the rights to food and a dignified life, hinder academic exchanges, affect the supply of energy, drinking water, and medicines, and violate the right to life in general, he pointed out.

In this regard, the report on the subject that it will present in September 2026 to the UN Human Rights Council will urge the United States to cease this unilateral policy “without international legal basis”, including secondary sanctions and the over-compliance with them.

It will also call on states and international organizations to adopt measures to guarantee the full enjoyment of the rights of Cubans, and to allow the development of programs that benefit other countries.

In his speech, Douhan thanked the Cuban government for the facilities provided to exchange with leaders, representatives of civil society, specialists, academics, international organizations and personalities from various sectors of the country’s economic, political and social life.

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