Cuba Crisis – CARICOM Should Stand Firm with Cuba

2026-02-25 - 18:55

The Caribbean today faces a defining moral and political moment. The tightening of United States restrictions on Cuba, most critically the recent moves to cut off oil supplies and further restrict trade, has deepened an already severe humanitarian strain on more than 11 million Cuban people. Long hours of electricity blackouts, rising food and transport costs, and shortages of essential goods are not abstract policy outcomes; they are lived realities for families across the island. Recent U.S. action targeting fuel shipments, particularly oil supplies linked to Venezuela, has intensified Cuba’s energy emergency and placed the country on the brink of even greater hardship. The implications are regional. When energy grids falter, hospitals, water systems, food refrigeration, schools, and transportation networks are all destabilized. The humanitarian consequences are predictable and preventable. It is in this context that former leaders of the Caribbean Community have spoken with clarity and courage. Eight distinguished elder states, including P.J. Patterson, Keith Rowley, Donald Ramotar, Freundel Stuart, Edison James, Tillman Thomas, Bruce Golding, and Kenny Anthony, have characterized the latest measures as a form of economic warfare and have urged principled resistance to unilateral coercion. Their number has since grown, reflecting a widening Caribbean consensus that this moment demands resolve rather than retreat. Their intervention is not sentimental. It is rooted in history, law, and regional identity. The embargo against Cuba is not a recent invention. It has been reinforced and codified over decades, notably through the Helms–Burton Act, which entrenched the embargo in U.S. law and limited the scope for executive flexibility. What we are witnessing today is not an isolated dispute but the latest intensification of a long-standing legal and economic architecture that has constrained Cuba’s access to trade, finance, and increasingly, energy. Yet the global community has repeatedly signaled its discomfort with this approach. Year after year, the United Nations General Assembly has overwhelmingly voted to condemn the embargo and to call for its end. CARICOM’s position, therefore, is not radical; it is consistent with international opinion and with the principles of international law that small states rely upon for protection. More importantly, Cuba’s relationship with CARICOM is not rhetorical; it is historical and institutional. The adoption of the Havana Declaration in 2002 and the annual observance of CARICOM–Cuba Day stand as markers of a partnership built on solidarity. For decades, Cuba has provided medical professionals, health training, disaster assistance, and scholarships to Caribbean nationals. From hurricane response to rural healthcare support, Cuba has stood with the region when resources were thin and options limited. This cooperation is woven into the Caribbean development story. CARICOM was founded on the principle that sovereign states, especially small ones, gain strength through cooperation. It was conceived not as an alliance of convenience, but as a community grounded in mutual respect, shared development, and collective dignity. To abandon those principles now would be to weaken the very foundation of regional integration. The moment is also diplomatically delicate. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to engage with CARICOM leaders at the upcoming summit. Pressure will be real. Economic leverage will be implicit. But diplomacy is not submission. CARICOM’s strength has always lain in its ability to speak with one voice and to resist being divided by external interests. It is noteworthy that others in the hemisphere are responding to the scale of Cuba’s hardship. Canada has signaled its intention to assist, and Mexico has extended humanitarian shipments of food and medicine. If partners outside the immediate Caribbean basin can act on humanitarian principles, then surely the region itself must not be absent. Standing fast does not mean confrontation. It means clarity. CARICOM can and should: Declare unequivocally that measures which create civilian hardship violate humanitarian norms. Coordinate emergency regional assistance in food, medicine, and energy-related supplies where feasible. Advocate for dialogue over coercion, consistent with the Caribbean’s long-standing commitment to a Zone of Peace. Reaffirm that Caribbean–Cuba cooperation is part of the region’s sovereign development path and not subject to external veto. The doctrine of “might is right” has no place in a region that has struggled through colonialism, economic dependency, and structural vulnerability. For small states, especially, international law and respect for sovereignty are not abstract ideals; they are safeguards of survival. Cuba should be given the space to address its challenges without the added burden of punitive strangulation. The Cuban people deserve dignity, self-determination, and relief from avoidable suffering. No geopolitical contest justifies the deepening of the humanitarian crisis. The former leaders of CARICOM have issued more than a statement. They have issued a reminder of who we are as a Caribbean community. They have called upon current leaders to demonstrate the same courage and clarity that built this region’s cooperative institutions. CARICOM must not bend under external pressure. It must stand with principle, with history, and with humanity. To do otherwise would not only abandon Cuba in its hour of need it would diminish the moral authority of the Caribbean itself. In times of testing, solidarity is not optional. It is identity.