[News] UN experts warn US fuel blockade on Cuba violates int'l law

[Anti-Imperialist News]

english.almayadeen.net
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/un-experts-warn-us-fuel-blockade-on-cuba-violates-int-l-law>
UN experts warn US fuel blockade on Cuba violates int'l law
Al Mayadeen English
February 13, 2026
------------------------------

UN experts condemn the US fuel blockade on Cuba, warning of international
law violations and serious humanitarian consequences.

   - [image: A family travels on their electric motorbike during a power
   cut in Santa Cruz del Santa Cruz del Norte, home to one of Cuba’s largest
   thermoelectric plants, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026 (AP)]
   <https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/media/image/2026/2/13/5dfb5442-6c29-4e54-98e8-13a81ebb9e56.jpg?width=1000>
   A family travels on their electric motorbike during a power cut in Santa
   Cruz del Norte, home to one of Cuba’s largest thermoelectric plants,
   Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026 (*AP*)

UN human rights experts today condemned the executive order of the US
government declaring a supposed national emergency and imposing tariffs on
countries that supply oil to Cuba.

In a press release, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Press Office criticized the provision signed
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/un-backs-cuba-amid-fuel-crisis-as-us-tariffs-threaten-suppli>
by the President of the United States on January 29, 2026, which imposes a
fuel blockade on Cuba, according to the UN experts who asserted that the
measure violates international law and poses a serious threat to a
democratic and equitable international order.

“This is an extreme form of unilateral economic coercion with
extraterritorial effects
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/argentina-launches-campaign-to-deliver-humanitarian-aid-to-c>,
whereby the US seeks to exert coercion over the sovereign state of Cuba and
compel third sovereign states to modify their lawful trade relations, under
the threat of punitive trade measures,” they said.

The experts also dismissed claims that Cuba poses an “unusual and
extraordinary threat” to US national security or supports “transnational
terrorist groups,” describing such allegations as lacking credibility.

The statement emphasized that “in the absence of authorization from the UN
Security Council, the executive order has no basis in collective security
and constitutes a unilateral act contrary
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/russia-prepares-crude-and-fuel-deliveries-to-cuba-amid-sever>
to the international law.”

“There is no power under international law that allows to impose economic
sanctions on third states for engaging in lawful trade with another
sovereign country,” they added.
Legal violations and humanitarian risks highlighted by UN experts

The experts warned that the US executive order directly violates
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/cuba-reaffirms-solidarity-with-palestine--supports-un-rights>
the principles of sovereign equality, non-intervention, and
self-determination, essential pillars of a democratic and equitable
international order as set out in Article 2(1) of the United Nations
Charter. They argued that the measure also circumvents multilateral
frameworks governing international trade and security, including the World
Trade Organization.

“A democratic international order has nothing to do with practices whereby
one state arrogates authority to dictate the domestic policies and economic
relations of others, using threats and coercion,” experts said.

They expressed deep concern about the foreseeable humanitarian consequences
of restricting
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/rubio-is-faking-cuba-talks--blocking-oil--and-playing-trump>
fuel supplies to Cuba. “Obstructing fuel imports could trigger a serious
humanitarian crisis, with indirect effects on essential services,” raising
serious concerns under international human rights law, they added.

The experts urged the US government to immediately revoke the executive
order and end the use of extraterritorial economic measures. They also
noted that the executive order worsens the impact of the already existing
and illegal designation of Cuba as a “sponsor state of terrorism” by the US.

The UN experts called on all states not to recognize or validate these
actions of the United States government against Cuba, according to the
statement.
Trump intensifies Cuba's suffering under sanctions

The United States first imposed an arms embargo on Cuba
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/mexico-defies-us-pressure--sends-over-800-tonnes-of-aid-to-c>
in 1958, and by October 1960, it had expanded into a full trade embargo
that restricted nearly all economic interaction between the two countries
after the Cuban Revolution, making it one of the longest‑standing sanctions
regimes in modern history.

Over the decades, the embargo was codified and strengthened, including
through the Helms–Burton Act signed on March 12, 1996, which extended the
embargo to penalize foreign companies doing business with Cuba.

On January 29, 2026, US President Donald J. Trump signed a new executive
order declaring a national emergency regarding Cuba
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/us-pressure-intensifies-as-cuba-becomes-next-regime-change-t>
and authorizing tariffs on countries that supply oil to the island, a
policy aimed at tightening the longstanding sanctions and restricting fuel
imports.

The US move has had immediate consequences on Cuba’s fuel supply. Mexico,
which had become one of Cuba’s largest fuel suppliers, especially after a
shortfall in Venezuelan exports, halted oil shipments over fears of US
trade penalties.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum publicly denounced the US sanctions
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/sheinbaum-condemns-us-oil-tariff-threats-meant-to--strangle>,
saying that punitive measures against countries exporting oil to Cuba
threaten to “strangle” the island’s fragile economy and deepen its
humanitarian crisis.

“This sanction being imposed on countries that sell oil to Cuba is very
unfair... sanctions that harm the people are not right,” Sheinbaum told
reporters, emphasizing the humanitarian implications of such economic
coercion.

Mexico has sought diplomatic avenues to continue supporting Cuba without
incurring US sanctions, balancing solidarity with Havana against
safeguarding its own economic stability. Although Mexico’s state‑owned oil
company Pemex paused planned shipments to Cuba, Sheinbaum said her
government remains committed to helping the Cuban people and exploring ways
to restore energy exports.
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