TWN Info Service on UN Sustainable Development (Nov25/05)
27 November 2025
Third World Network

UN: US unilateral sanctions intensifying Cuba's humanitarian crisis
Published in SUNS #10341 dated 27 November 2025

Penang, 26 Nov (Kanaga Raja) -- The United States must lift the unilateral sanctions it has imposed on Cuba, which have deepened the country's humanitarian crisis, the UN Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, Alena Douhan, has said.

"For over 60 years, the United States has maintained an extensive regime of economic, trade and financial restrictions against Cuba, the longest-running unilateral sanctions policy in US foreign relations," she said in a statement at the end of an official visit to the country from 11 to 21 November 2025.

As a result, she said, "generations of Cubans have lived under unilateral coercive measures, which have shaped the country's economic and social landscape."

The Special Rapporteur said she heard reports that restrictions have progressively tightened since 2018, with further measures imposed on the already existing ones and a significant intensification in 2021 following Cuba's re-designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism.

She said that these and many other restrictions, compounded by de-risking and over-compliance by third parties, limit both Government and citizens' ability for long-term planning and are suffocating the social fabric of Cuban society.

Despite the broad support consistently expressed for the UN General Assembly resolution "Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba", and its unequivocal request to end the blockade, the measures not only continue to remain in force, but their impacts are being intensified by the United States, Ms. Douhan said.

"Shortages of essential machinery, spare parts, electricity, water, fuel, food and medicine, alongside the growing emigration of skilled workers - including medical staff, engineers and teachers - have severe consequences for the enjoyment of human rights, including the rights to life, food, health and development," she added.

At the end of her visit, the Special Rapporteur issued a preliminary report that assessed the impact of the US unilateral sanctions on the enjoyment of human rights by people living in Cuba and any other affected people.

CONTEXT

According to the preliminary report by the Special Rapporteur, in 1962, the US issued the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR), built upon earlier legislative frameworks, including the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917 and the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.

It froze all Cuban assets in the US, prohibited all financial and commercial transactions unless approved under a licence, prohibited Cuban exports to the US as well as prohibited any natural or legal person of the US or a third country from conducting transactions in US dollars with Cuba.

The CACR also introduced a "10 per cent de minimis rule", prohibiting export to Cuba of goods with 10%+ of US components, patents or technology.

According to the report, it was further reinforced and expanded through the Export Administration Regulations of 1979, the Cuban Democracy Act (Torricelli Act) of 1992, and the Helms-Burton Act of 1996.

The latter extended its extraterritorial scope by imposing penalties on the executives of foreign companies engaged in transactions involving US property nationalized in Cuba, while also enabling legal action against Cuba in US domestic courts.

The UN expert also said travel by US nationals to Cuba thus became prohibited for tourism, but permitted if organized by licensed US travel agencies for specific professional, academic, sport and cultural activities, as long as it respected the prescribed purposes and avoid restricted entities.

In 1982, Cuba was designated by the US State Department as a State Sponsor of Terrorism (SSOT), and lately re-designated in January 2021 and February 2025.

As a means of enforcement of the US unilateral sanctions against Cuba, several major international banks have now faced heavy fines, in particular, BNP Paribas paid a record USD 8.9 billion in 2014 through a settlement, while UniCredit settled for USD 611 million in 2019.

Smaller penalties were imposed on Credit Agricole at USD 401,000 in 2015 and EFG International at USD 3 million in 2024, said the report.

IMPACT ON ECONOMY

According to the Special Rapporteur, due to the limitations on international trade, Cuba's international trade balance continues to show a deficit.

In 2024, exports were valued at USD 2,128 million, while a trade deficit was assessed at approximately USD 5,368 million.

Cuba's currency system functions as a multi-layered, partially dollarized economy using three different exchange rates, said the report.

It said the current uncertainty around the national currency is reflected in regular devaluations, which affect the prices of basic commodities, and feed speculation, thus leading to further uncertainty, with a negative impact on people's lives.

The average salary in the public sector in 2025 is reportedly low, amounting to 6,649 Cuban pesos per month, it noted.

Officially, remittances from relatives abroad are exempt from US unilateral sanctions. However, in practice, they became difficult after the withdrawal of remittance services such as Western Union from the country in February 2025.

According to the report, the economic situation has been exacerbated by the country's re-designation as a SSOT, with reportedly 200 foreign banks and financial institutions terminating relationships with Cuba since 2021.

The Special Rapporteur said the SSOT designation, travel restrictions, limitations on credit card payments, and widespread over-compliance has also severely affected tourism, which used to provide the highest revenue for the Cuban economy, representing approximately 10 per cent of Cuba's GDP.

She said deliveries to Cuba are permitted either with OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control) license or entail much higher costs (reportedly 40-300%) due to the rule on 10%+ content of US products or patents; the need to operate via several intermediary companies and banks; much longer delivery routes (mostly in Asia and Europe); inability to participate in trade on a competitive basis; intermediary tariffs and premiums added by suppliers to compensate for their own risk of exposure to sanctions; extensive de-risking and over-compliance of suppliers, transportation and insurance companies due to the possible exclusion from the US market; and risks of high fines especially in the banking sector.

"As a result, the Government of Cuba, private entities and citizens are hampered from engaging in long-term planning, forcing social and political initiatives to remain short-sighted due to the precarious situation in which they find themselves, rife with sudden cancellations, backpedaling and un-foreseeability."

In this regard, Ms. Douhan said foreign companies are reported to be hesitant to make substantial investments in the country, particularly regarding infrastructure, given the risk that a change in US administration might entail.

HUMANITARIAN IMPACT

Although medicines and medical devices are not technically subject to sanctions, the report said that access to health is reported to be severely affected, resulting in the widespread inaccessibility of 69 per cent of medicines to Cubans, including medicines against cancer and heart disease, repellents, as well as tests for dengue and other infections.

Purchase of replacement parts for machinery through third parties might be permitted via special licences from OFAC, which reportedly take 6-12 months to obtain, it pointed out.

Despite the fact that 7 per cent of Cuba's GDP is allocated to education, students reportedly experience obstacles to the enjoyment of their right to education, said the Special Rapporteur.

She said according to information received, 50% of computers in schools and universities are out of service, new hardware and software are not available in many areas due to the 10%+ rule or access is geo-blocked to over 320 online platforms or products, including educational materials and training courses, open information repositories, virtual laboratories, cloud services, and mapping and coding applications.

The UN expert said food security in the country is reportedly severely impacted due to a lack of fuel and limited possibility to import food, seeds, fertilizers, livestock vaccines, equipment and spare parts for food production, processing, conservation and delivery.

She said according to information received, the food industry has observed a noticeable decrease in its industrial production, resulting in an estimated 22 per cent production capacity by the end of 2025.

Due to declining agricultural output, Cuba's food industry has increasingly relied on imports of raw materials (70-80 per cent of food), and since 2021, when Cuba was designated as a SSOT, there has also been a reported decrease in imports of food items such as powdered milk, flour, poultry, beef, and pork, she added.

Ms. Douhan said that even when procurement is possible, e.g. from the US, it must be paid 45 days in advance in cash in USD and suppliers must possess an OFAC licence, which creates substantial obstacles in a country with a limited availability of cash.

She said that insufficient revenues have also undermined the Government's ability to maintain and improve critical infrastructure and engage in vital development projects, including maintenance of power plants, water supply and sanitation systems, roads, public buildings and housing.

New equipment or spare parts are often not available, and are delivered from distant regions via mediators, with higher costs and substantial (up to months or years) delays, she added.

Persistent delays in machinery maintenance make equipment increasingly likely to break, often irreparably. As a result, Cuban people suffer from blackouts up to 18 hours per day, with limited access to clean water, as well as difficulties to get access to clean water delivered by water trucks due to insufficient fuel.

The report said there is also a need for 800,000 houses to be built, and much more restored due to the absence of regular maintenance or natural disasters like hurricanes or earthquakes.

It said due to the abovementioned challenges and low salaries, Cuba has witnessed significant migration - up to 10 per cent - resulting in a significant brain drain in the country and a loss of human capital, especially of young people with the highest level of qualifications.

Vacancy rates in some public sectors of the economy, like healthcare and education, are reported to reach 30-50%, it noted.

Assessing the legality of the US unilateral sanctions, the Special Rapporteur said unilateral sanctions against Cuba do not conform to a large number of international legal norms, are introduced to apply pressure on a state, to exclude Cuba from international cooperation, and cannot be justified as countermeasures under the law of international responsibility.

Therefore, they constitute unilateral coercive measures that have been repeatedly condemned in resolutions of the UN Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly, she added.

Primary unilateral sanctions, means of their enforcement, de-risking policies and over-compliance have been substantially exacerbating the humanitarian situation in Cuba, which has already been affected by the economic crisis, natural disasters, COVID-19 and other challenges at the national level, and have been designed to prevent Cuba from receiving any economic revenue, especially in hard currency, the report concluded.

Ms. Douhan acknowledged Cuba's primary responsibility for the promotion and protection of human rights and therefore welcomed the efforts of the Government of Cuba to mitigate the negative impact of the US unilateral sanctions, especially on the most vulnerable groups, as well as efforts made to ensure access to healthcare, food, education, transportation and emergency assistance across the country.

To assess the full scope of the situation in Cuba, the UN expert met with a broad range of stakeholders, including government officials, diplomats, international agencies, non-governmental organisations, church representatives, members of the academia, medical personnel, and private sector representatives.

She also received a record number of submissions that will feed into her final report, to be presented to the UN Human Rights Council in September 2026. +