United Nations human rights experts have urged the international community to take immediate action to prevent what they described as a potential “silent Gaza” in Cuba, while condemning recent measures imposed on the island by the United States.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the independent UN experts warned that escalating humanitarian conditions in Cuba required urgent global attention to prevent further deterioration.
The experts criticised the use of economic measures that they said threaten civilians’ access to basic necessities, stressing that food should never be used as a tool of political pressure.
“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 warning comes as Cuba grapples with deepening economic hardship and recurring nationwide power outages, which have disrupted daily life and intensified shortages of food, fuel and essential services.
The UN experts called on the international community to act swiftly to avert a worsening humanitarian crisis, warning that continued pressure on the island could have devastating consequences for its population.
The United States has not immediately responded to the latest remarks by the UN experts.