A coalition of eleven former Caribbean Community (CARICOM) heads of government has intensified diplomatic efforts to address Cuba’s escalating humanitarian crisis, urging immediate termination of the United States’ oil embargo against the island nation. Their intervention precedes the 50th CARICOM Heads of Government Conference commencing in St Kitts and Nevis.
The distinguished group, including former Jamaican Prime Minister P.J. Patterson as principal spokesperson, characterized the fuel embargo as an existential threat to Cuba’s civilian population. “There can be no justification for imposing a fuel embargo which could extinguish 11 million civilian lives,” their collective statement emphasized. “Exposing citizens to starvation, disease, and extinction through energy resource denial constitutes a mortal danger that transcends ideological considerations.”
The former leaders’ roster comprises significant regional figures: Donald Ramotar (Former President of Guyana), former Prime Ministers Freundel Stuart (Barbados), Edison James (Dominica), Tillman Thomas (Grenada), Bruce Golding (Jamaica), Dr. Kenny Anthony (St. Lucia), Dr. Keith Rowley (Trinidad & Tobago), alongside subsequent endorsers Baldwin Spencer (Antigua & Barbuda), Said Musa (Belize), and Dr. Ralph Gonsalves (St. Vincent & The Grenadines).
This diplomatic maneuver occurs against Cuba’s severe energy catastrophe, exacerbated by the Trump administration’s policies designed to restrict oil access. The crisis deepened following the collapse of Venezuelan crude shipments after US intervention against Nicolás Maduro’s government, with additional threats against alternative suppliers.
Cuban authorities have implemented drastic energy conservation protocols, including stringent fuel rationing and substantial reductions in public transportation services. The former CARICOM leaders condemned these developments as creating “catastrophic consequences” through the “strangulation of Cuba’s vital requirements for energy, food, medication, education, and basic livelihood.”
The coalition specifically acknowledged Trinidad & Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s consistent advocacy against the embargo, noting her historical support for United Nations resolutions demanding its termination. Their statement concluded with a powerful appeal for regional solidarity: “Our considerable vocal firepower as past, present, and future leaders must be directed against hegemonic economic aggression threatening havoc in our Caribbean space.”