New York, August 25, 2026.- Cuba warned the UN Security Council of the worsening of global food crises as a result of conflicts, structural inequalities and an unjust international order, and denounced the direct impact of the intensification of the US blockade on the Cuban people’s access to food, fuel and other essential goods.
During the high-level open debate entitled "Food under fire: the role of the Security Council in mitigating global and local food crises", the Permanent Representative of Cuba to the United Nations, Ambassador Ernesto Soberón Guzmán, warned that, a mere four years before the 2030 Agenda deadline, the world remains far from achieving the Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger. He recalled that some 645 million people were chronically malnourished in 2025, while official development assistance was declining and global military spending reached a record $2.9 trillion.
The Cuban diplomat called for redirecting to development the vast resources devoted to the arms race and stressed the need to address the root causes of conflicts, including inequalities inherited from colonialism, the consequences of neoliberalism, foreign occupation and policies of domination. He also called for the Security Council to fulfill its mandate fully, in strict adherence to the UN Charter and without double standards.
Soberón Guzmán denounced in particular the grave situation of the Palestinian people, particularly women and children, subjected to hunger as a result of Israel’s actions and the obstruction of humanitarian aid, including food supplies. He pointed out that these practices are part of a systematic policy of occupation and collective punishment, and denounced the military, political, diplomatic and financial support of the US government to Israel. He also drew attention to the humanitarian needs of the Sahrawi people, including their access to safe food, and called for greater international cooperation and support.
The Permanent Representative denounced that Cuba faces a multidimensional war of the United States Government, whose economic, commercial and financial blockade has been reinforced to extreme levels by a brutal energy siege of more than six months and other unilateral coercive measures. He explained that these actions hamper access to fuels and the arrival of shipping companies and containers, with serious consequences for the availability of food, medicines, fertilizers, agricultural machinery and inputs, as well as for power generation, transport, supply chains and the operation of hospitals and other essential services. He condemned this policy as a collective punishment against the Cuban people and reiterated his condemnation of threats of direct military aggression from the United States.
In closing, Soberón Guzmán recalled the historic warning of Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz during the 1996 World Food Summit: "The bells that toll today for those who die of starvation every day, will ring tomorrow for the whole humanity if it refuses or cannot do that which is necessary to save itself."
At the same time, he reaffirmed that the construction of a new world order based on justice, equity and peace cannot continue to be postponed, and called for the collective pledge not to leave anyone behind to be translated into action.
(Cubaminrex-CubanMission to UN)