Published On 5/27/2026
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, in a speech before the UN Security Council on Tuesday, appealed to the international community to provide urgent assistance to his country to avoid disaster due to the energy blockade imposed by the United States.
“I call on the international community to take action to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe that could be imposed through an arms blockade or a fuel blockade,” Rodriguez said, adding, “It is time to stand in solidarity with Cuba.”
US President Donald Trump had publicly hinted at the possibility of controlling communist Cuba, saying after the overthrow of President Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela that Havana might be his next target.
Because of the American trade embargo that was imposed after Fidel Castro came to power in 1959, Cubans live in miserable economic conditions, and suffer from shortages of food, medicine, and other basic materials, and nationwide power outages have become commonplace.
Matters worsened when Trump cut off oil supplies from Venezuela – an ally of Havana – after the ouster of Maduro.
The Trump administration tightened the noose on Cuba last week by charging Raul Castro with shooting down two small American planes in 1996, raising fears that the United States was seeking to create a pretext to overthrow the government in Havana.
The day after the indictment against Castro was announced, Foreign Minister Marco Rubio warned Cuba that the United States was too focused on changing the communist regime.
On Tuesday, Rodriguez described the indictment as politically motivated, denying US claims that Cuba poses a threat to US national security, and told the Security Council, “It is an idea that defies logic and reason. Let Cuba live in peace.”
