The World Council of Churches and the ACT Alliance are gravely concerned about the humanitarian impacts of the fuel blockade imposed on Cuba by the Executive Order issued by the President of the United States on 29 January 2026.

Declaring a national emergency due to an alleged “unusual and extraordinary threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy, requiring immediate response to protect American citizens and interests”, the Executive Order authorizes the imposition of punitive tariffs on imports from any country that directly or indirectly provides oil to Cuba. The action amounts to an attempt to embargo all fuel supplies to Cuba.

Cuba is highly dependent on imported fuel for all essential services. The consequences for the people of Cuba of the US blockade on fuel supplies are therefore likely to be severe – from impacting electricity generation, hospitals and health services, water and sanitation systems, public transportation, to food production and distribution.

A collective punishment of such an existential nature on the entire Cuban people cannot be justified.

Moreover, this extreme form of unilateral economic coercion, without authorization from the United Nations Security Council, is fundamentally incompatible with international law.

Even before this latest imposition, Cuba had been experiencing a deepening socio-economic crisis due to a decades-long financial and trade embargo by the United States, as well as the impacts of increasingly extreme weather events. This new Executive Order deliberately and cruelly seeks to deepen the suffering of the Cuban people in a completely indiscriminate manner. To that extent, it is fundamentally immoral.

We urge all States to reject unilateral coercive measures and to act collectively to defend the principles of the UN Charter and of international law.