On October 24, 2026, a coalition of eight former Caribbean heads of government, including ex-Belize Prime Minister Said Musa, issued a public appeal directed at every sovereign nation across the globe to cast their support behind an upcoming United Nations General Assembly resolution that demands the full termination of the decades-long U.S. economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba. All signatories are past leaders of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), marking a coordinated regional push ahead of the scheduled UNGA vote set to take place on October 28, 2026.
The open letter draws attention to a long-standing pattern in UN proceedings: every year dating back to 1992, the General Assembly has passed a non-binding resolution calling for an end to the Cuban embargo with an overwhelming, near-unanimous majority, yet successive U.S. administrations have consistently dismissed and defied the clear collective will of the international community. The signatories frame the decades-old restrictive regime as a fundamental violation of established international law, as well as a rejection of every widely accepted standard of dignified, humane coexistence among nations.
The former regional heads of government emphasize that the 2026 vote carries uniquely heightened urgency, citing recent escalations in U.S. enforcement of the embargo. Over recent months, U.S. authorities have expanded punitive measures to target third-party governments and private entities anywhere in the world that facilitate the provision, sale, or cross-border transport of critical energy supplies including gasoline and diesel to Cuban jurisdictions. The letter denounces these expanded extraterritorial sanctions as a deliberate tactic designed to starve ordinary Cuban civilians into political compliance, labeling the policy a grossly inhumane violation of basic human dignity.
Beyond the immediate humanitarian harm, the signatories argue the sustained embargo poses a tangible threat to cross-hemisphere and global peace and security, systematically erodes Cuba’s national sovereignty, and strips the Cuban population of access to fundamental, universally recognized human rights. They characterize the latest U.S. enforcement actions as a reckless embrace of unregulated “law of the jungle” power politics that has no valid justification under the UN Charter or any framework of binding international law. The letter further calls on all member states to push back against reported diplomatic pressure from U.S. representatives aimed at persuading nations to reject the upcoming anti-embargo resolution.
The closing lines of the appeal stress that Cuba poses no credible threat to any country or individual anywhere on the planet, imploring all UN member states to align themselves with Cuban interests and core principles of shared humanity when they cast their ballots later that week.