UN Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council on Unilateral Coercive Measures visits Cuba

This Friday afternoon, at the Palace of the Revolution, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, thanked Alena Douhan for all the time she has dedicated "to working with the Cuban people."

Images via Estudios Revolución

By Alina Perera Robbio, translated from the Spanish

"We are delighted to welcome her back to Cuba and highly appreciate her visit," stated Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, on Friday afternoon, as he greeted Alena Douhan, the United Nations Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council on Unilateral Coercive Measures.

At the Palace of the Revolution, the Head of State told the special rapporteur: "I know that you have had a very intense work schedule in Cuba, that you have met with representatives of our Government and of institutions of Cuban civil society; and I am confident that this has provided you with a more comprehensive evaluation of all the impacts our people experience because of the blockade, and particularly due to the intensification of the blockade in recent years."

He wanted to emphasize to Douhan, who arrived on the island on November 11, "the term intensification, because it is truly a characteristic of the blockade in these times, and it is closely related to the measures Trump implemented during his first administration." Díaz-Canel Bermúdez noted in this reflection that Cuba has been listed among countries allegedly supporting terrorism.

"The list," he remarked, "is completely incoherent and false." He argued that this incoherence is evident even "within U.S. policy itself." He made this statement in light of the fact that during Trump's first administration, "we were added to the list of terrorist countries; Biden kept us on it, then removed us at the end of his term; and less than a dozen days after Trump resumed the presidency, we were added back to the list."

The Cuban President said that it is hard to understand how the parameters for including a country on a list - which is supposed to be so important to the United States - can be so variable. "The truth," the president noted, "is that inclusion on the list is a tremendous blow to the aspirations of the Cuban people."

In discussing the earlier point, he informed Alena Douhan that Cuba's inclusion on the list "severed all external funding the country received through loans, remittances, and a significant portion of tourism from the United States, as well as tourism from other regions, such as Europe."

The Head of State expressed gratitude to the official visiting Cuba for the second time—her first visit being in 2023 for an academic event at the University of Havana. He thanked her for the communications and actions taken by the Council during her tenure as rapporteur, addressing the U.S. government regarding the blockade's impact on the Cuban people and Cuba's inclusion in the list of countries allegedly supporting terrorism.

"I would like to reaffirm our full commitment, as a country and as a government, to support her mandate and to collaborate with all human rights mechanisms and procedures within the Council.," Díaz-Canel Bermúdez emphasized.

Regarding the damaging impact of the imperial blockade, the president noted that "the blockade affects the lives of all Cubans." He stated that everyone born in the 1960s "were born blockaded and remain blockaded," as with all younger generations up to now. This, he said, is the story "of the generations of Cubans living in the country today."

The president told the special rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights Council: "I have accounts of very dramatic experiences from recent days. Just an hour and a half ago, I returned from the eastern provinces hit by the cyclone to attend this meeting with you. This marks the fourth visit I've made since the cyclone passed, and it's clear how the cyclone's impact harshly compounds the challenges those people were already facing in their lives."

The dignitary remarked, "our ability to overcome such levels of adversity is significantly constrained by the blockade measures themselves." He also took a moment to emphasize "the tremendous support we've received from United Nations agencies. Initially, they provided advance aid that we were able to distribute in those regions, and subsequently, a series of donations have been coming in through UNDP, FAO, and the entire network of United Nations agencies."

Díaz-Canel acknowledged "the contributions from a group of friendly nations, governments, and the solidarity of Cubans from other provinces, who have been sending supplies to meet the needs of the victims."

The President described the unique features of a hurricane that caught those affected by surprise, noting in the meeting that it is a manifestation of climate change. He emphasized the significant effort required in leadership and organizing the Civil Defense bodies to ensure no lives were lost.

"Thus, the right to life, a fundamental human right, was the first to be protected despite the country's limitations due to these circumstances. I believe this speaks volumes about the humanist commitment of the Cuban Revolution."

Similarly, referencing the ideas recently shared by Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla at the United Nations during the presentation of the resolution condemning the blockade on Cuba, the Head of State mentioned the report submitted by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. This report discussed the impact of the blockade over the past year, including comparisons with previous periods.

At the United Nations, the Cuban President reflected the question posed by Bruno: What could Cuba have achieved in six decades without the impacts of the blockade?

He stated that upon reviewing this report, it becomes clear that this blockade impacts all areas: "it hinders our ability to obtain necessary food, production inputs, medicines, fuels, spare parts essential for maintaining our National Electro-energetic System (SEN), and the insurance required for education, including special education."

"Here we have some data," the president stated. The figures he reviewed on Friday afternoon were quite telling: Without the blockade over the past year, Cuba's GDP would have grown by 9.2 percent in 2024, making it one of the highest in the hemisphere. Nineteen minutes of blockade equate to the cost of the Solidarity with Panama school and other institutions in Cuba dedicated to educating children with special needs. Additionally, "14 hours of blockade equals the cost of insulin needed to treat all Cuban diabetes patients."

Twelve days of blockade, the Cuban President argued, are equivalent to the annual cost of maintaining and stabilizing the SEN; and 16 days of the blockade "would allow us to have the financing we need to produce the medicines that the Cuban population needs."

After providing additional information of interest, Díaz-Canel Bermúez told the special rapporteur that her visit is very important and significant, allowing her to witness firsthand, through her own experiences and interactions, the extent of the impact.

Regarding human rights, the head of state confirmed Cuba's dedication to human rights, expressing "our full willingness to support the human rights system," along with "our active involvement in the Human Rights Council, and our readiness to engage in debate and dialogue on human rights matters, even in areas where there might be differing opinions or viewpoints."

The president expressed gratitude to the important official, saying, "Thank you very much for being in Cuba during this entire situation." The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party also expressed appreciation for "the time the special rapporteur has devoted during this visit to working with the Cuban people."

Alena Douhan expressed her gratitude to Díaz-Canel Bermúdez for the invitation that enabled her visit to Cuba. She also thanked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its team for arranging the meeting at the Palace of the Revolution.

The official clearly expressed her solidarity with the people of Cuba in light of the damage caused by Hurricane Melissa. She informed her counterpart that one issue with unilateral coercive measures is their use of sanction rhetoric, which divides the world into good and bad. This division makes it challenging to highlight the real humanitarian consequences these measures entail.

"Over the five and a half years I have served as a special rapporteur," she emphasized, "I have worked to highlight the importance of assessing unilateral coercive measures through the lens of international law rather than national legislation." Concerning the latter, she noted, it is crucial to ensure that such legislation does not enable some to claim the right to impose these measures.

She said she highly valued "the methodology that Cuba has developed to quantify the material damage, the economic damage that the measures pose for the country."

This Friday afternoon, on the Cuban side, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, a member of the Political Bureau and head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, along with other Foreign Ministry officials, were present.

This work was translated and shared via a License CC-BY-NC