United Nations experts have warned that the executive order issued on January 29 by the President of the United States, which imposes a fuel blockade on Cuba, constitutes an “energy strangulation” with severe consequences for human rights and the country’s development.
According to the United Nations System in Cuba, as stated on its Facebook page, Special Rapporteurs Surya Deva, Sofía Monsalve Suárez, and Pedro Arrojo-Agudo declared that the measure deprives the population of the energy necessary for the operation of essential services, affecting the rights to food, health, education, and access to drinking water.
They pointed out that fuel shortages have prevented the transfer of patients to hospitals and children from attending school, while the health system faces more than 96,000 pending surgeries, including 11,000 pediatric surgeries, and delays in the National Immunization Program.
The experts emphasized that the executive order intensifies the effects of the U.S. embargo, which has been in place for more than six decades, and questioned the lack of legal basis for classifying Cuba as an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security.
They recalled that they had already warned about the damage caused by the economic, commercial, and financial blockade to the right to food and an adequate standard of living, and cautioned that the new fuel blockade exacerbates these effects and constitutes a major obstacle to the development of the Caribbean nation.
In their official communication to the U.S. government, they requested clarification on the legal and factual basis of the measure, as well as information on actions to mitigate its negative impacts on human rights.
The international experts, appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, act independently and voluntarily, without receiving a salary or representing governments or organizations.
[ SOURCE: AGENCIA CUBANA DE NOTICIAS ]
