Paris, 10 February 2026.– Cuba denounced the serious consequences of the tightening of the economic blockade imposed by the United States against the country during the First 2026 Plenary Meeting of the Group of 77 and China, UNESCO Chapter, held on the afternoon of 9 February at UNESCO Headquarters.
In her statement, the Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Cuba to UNESCO, María del Carmen Herrera Caseiro, condemned the recent Executive Order signed on 29 January 2026 by the President of the United States, through which tariffs and sanctions are to be imposed on countries supplying oil to Cuba, as part of a strategy aimed at reinforcing the economic, commercial and financial blockade against the Island.
The Ambassador stressed that these measures, adopted through pressure and coercion against third States, constitute a flagrant violation of international law and the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, while seeking to impose an absolute restriction on fuel supplies to the country, directly affecting the living conditions of the Cuban people.
She further underscored that the intensification of these sanctions negatively impacts essential sectors linked to UNESCO’s mandate, including education, science, culture, and communication and information, by hindering access to technologies, international cooperation, connectivity, scientific research, and cultural and educational programmes that directly benefit the population.
The Cuban representative also denounced the manipulation campaigns and unfounded accusations accompanying these coercive measures, intended to justify a policy of economic pressure whose declared aim is to generate hardship among the population and force political change in the country.
In this context, Cuba expressed its appreciation for the Special Communiqué adopted on 5 February in New York by the Group of 77 and China, which denounces these new measures intensifying the blockade, as an expression of international solidarity in the face of this new aggression against Cuba and its people.
At the conclusion of the intervention, representatives of several delegations approached the Cuban Ambassador to express their solidarity with Cuba and their rejection of unilateral coercive measures.
The Group of 77 and China constitutes the largest intergovernmental organization of developing countries within the United Nations system and currently brings together more than 130 Member States. The Group’s Chapter at UNESCO held its first plenary meeting of the year under the presidency of Azerbaijan, which assumes the leadership of the Chapter in 2026.
The meeting was also attended by the Director-General of UNESCO, Dr. Khaled El-Enany, who presented to Member States the roadmap of his proposed institutional reforms under the “UNESCO 80” initiative and exchanged views with delegations on the Organization’s priorities and future perspectives.