The Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights Council on the negative repercussions of unilateral coercive measures, Alena Douhan, is developing an intense work programme during her official visit to Cuba. The Belarusian expert held during her first day a meeting with officials from the Ministry of Foreign Relations where the American blockade, its legal framework and the measures that demonstrate its intensification were analysed.

Subsequently, Douhan visited the National Assembly of People’s Power and held exchanges with directors of the Central Bank of Cuba and of the ministries of Finance and Prices, Culture, Internal Trade, Food Industry and Agriculture.

These dialogues allowed for a deepening of the impact of the blockade on these sectors, with special attention to its grave effects on the regulated family basket and the food security of the population.

The Rapporteur’s agenda includes meetings with representatives from diverse spheres of the country’s economic, political and social life, which will provide her the opportunity to evaluate first-hand the negative influence of this American policy on the full enjoyment of the human rights of the Cuban people.

According to details from the Chancellery, Douhan is scheduled to meet with government officials, representatives of international organisations, members of the diplomatic corps, associations, financial institutions, the business sector, the academic sphere and other non-governmental actors.

The work programme also includes visits to institutions, communities and productive centres, which will allow for a comprehensive analysis of the effects of the blockade on the daily life of Cubans.

Upon concluding her visit, the expert will offer a press conference in Havana to share her preliminary observations, while the final report will be presented in September 2026 before the UN Human Rights Council.

This visit represents the sixth occasion in the last two years that UN human rights mechanisms have accessed Cuba, which demonstrates the country’s cooperation with these international organisations.

The Cuban Government reiterated that the presence of the Special Rapporteur constitutes a support for the international denunciation against unilateral coercive measures and a step in the defence of the human rights of its people, maintaining its firm position that the American blockade is the principal obstacle for its development and a massive and systematic violation of human rights.

(With information from the ACN)