Caribbean bishops warn of instability in Cuba if oil blockade continues

‘While Cuba stands in need of renewal and positive change, it does not need more pain. The risk of deeper social instability is real when basic necessities become inaccessible.’

Bishops in the Caribbean warned that Cubans face “deepening anguish and suffering” as US President Donald Trump intensified his pressure campaign against the government in Havana.

The island has suffered widespread electrical blackouts over the last week under an oil blockade. Since the US deposed Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela in early January, it has starved Cuba of the oil previously supplied by the Sandinista regime. It has also imposed tariffs on countries that send oil to Cuba.

In a statement on 2 March, the Antilles Episcopal Conference (AEC) said: “Recent developments in the region have resulted in acute shortages of fuel and essential supplies, causing widespread power cuts, disruptions to hospitals and water systems, and serious threats to food security and basic public services in Cuba.”

It warned that such conditions “risk deepening anguish and suffering among ordinary citizens who have already endured much”.

“While Cuba stands in need of renewal and positive change, it does not need more pain. Nor should our brothers and sisters on the island feel isolated from us in their suffering, especially as we have been recipients of their own generosity in the past,” the AEC said. “The risk of deeper social instability is real when basic necessities become inaccessible.”

The statement called for dialogue and diplomacy rather than by coercion or conflict: “Humanitarian considerations must never be overshadowed by political or strategic interests.”

Weeks earlier, Cuba’s bishops were forced to postpone a meeting with Pope Leo in Rome as the worsening national crisis prevented their travel.

In a statement on 12 February, eight days before the scheduled visit to the Vatican, the Cuban bishops’ conference said that “given the worsening socioeconomic situation in the country, which is generating so much instability and uncertainty, the Catholic bishops have asked the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, that the ad limina visit be postponed to a later date than originally planned”.

The AEC has expressed solidarity with the church in Cuba “whose members continue to serve courageously, and to have hope in the midst of uncertainty”.

President Trump has claimed that the Cuban government is close to collapse, while the US Department of Justice is reportedly preparing cases against its leaders.

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