Former Caribbean leaders urge support for ending US embargo on Cuba
Eleven former Caribbean leaders urged governments to back a UN resolution on Wednesday 28 October calling for an end to the US embargo on Cuba.
Eleven former Caribbean leaders signed an open letter dated Saturday 24 October urging governments to support a United Nations General Assembly resolution calling for an end to the United States economic embargo on Cuba. The resolution was scheduled for consideration on Wednesday 28 October.
The signatories said the embargo violates international law and that recent US measures had increased hardship for Cubans. They cited an executive order issued on 29 January that threatened tariffs on countries supplying oil to Cuba, including indirectly, and later sanctions affecting foreign businesses and financial institutions.
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The letter was signed by former prime ministers Freundel Stuart of Barbados; Said Musa and Dean Barrow of Belize; Keith Mitchell and Tillman Thomas of Grenada; Bruce Golding and P.J. Patterson of Jamaica; Kenny Anthony of Saint Lucia; Ralph Gonsalves of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; and Keith Rowley of Trinidad and Tobago. Former Guyanese president Donald Ramotar also signed.
The former leaders said restrictions on fuel had worsened conditions in Cuba and raised concerns about access to food, medicines and healthcare during electricity outages. They said a General Assembly resolution could not itself end the embargo, which would require action by the US Congress.
The letter said the resolution received 165 votes in favour in October 2025, with seven countries voting against and 12 abstaining. It said the resolution had received 187 votes in favour in 2024 and that all 14 CARICOM member states backed it in the previous year's vote.
File photo: Paul Sableman / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0 · cropped, SXM Today mark added
