United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, Wednesday said he is “extremely concerned” about the humanitarian situation in Cuba, which will worsen, if not collapse, if its oil needs go unmet.
Cuba had been heavily reliant on Venezuela for its oil supply but ever since the United States launched an invasion of the South American country, detained its leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife and placed on trial in New York on drugs and weapons charges, Havana has not been receiving its daily quota of oil.
Further, President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that would impose a tariff on any goods from countries that sell or provide oil to Cuba, a move that could further cripple an island plagued by a deepening energy crisis.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez and a number of other Cuban officials condemned Trump’s executive order. Rodríguez called it a “brutal act of aggression against Cuba and its people … who are now threatened with being subjected to extreme living conditions.”
Speaking at the daily press briefing on Wednesday, Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, said he had been asked about the current situation in Cuba and that “I can tell you that the Secretary-General is extremely concerned about the humanitarian situation in Cuba, which will worsen, if not collapse, if its oil needs go unmet.
“He notes that for more than three decades, the General Assembly has consistently called for an end to the embargo imposed by the United States on Cuba,” Dujarric said, adding “the Secretary-General urges all parties to pursue dialogue and respect for international law”.
Since the Venezuela operation, Trump has said the Cuban government is ready to fall. (CMC)
