Coronavirus: UN Experts Slam Trump Administration's Stiffened Cuba Embargo During COVID-19 Crisis

United Nations human rights body ran a statement urging the Trump administration to prioritize empathy over policies in the face of a global health crisis Thursday, April 30. Citing how the U.S. financial and economic embargo on Cuba was bearing heart-wrenching consequences to the communist-led island at present, the officials suggested that the need of the hour was offering aid to the Cuban healthcare system.

“In the pandemic emergency, the lack of will of the U.S. government to suspend sanctions may lead to a higher risk of such suffering in Cuba and other countries targeted by its sanctions,” said U.N. human rights experts in the statement. The joint statement issued by the human rights body arose out of serious concerns about the survival and welfare of Cubans.

“We are particularly concerned about the risks to the right to life, health, and other critical rights of the most vulnerable sections of the Cuban population,” added the experts. Cuba stands at 1,501 cases and 61 deaths in the coronavirus scare and is likely to be experiencing mammoth physical and psychological concerns caused by COVID-19.

Despite government-imposed stay-at-home orders and firm social distancing measures, nations across the globe continue to grapple under the coronavirus outbreak. Human trials of the potential vaccines are underway in countries like the United Kingdom, Germany, a cure is yet to be found as yet.

The novel coronavirus, which traces its origin to Wuhan, currently clocked 3.26 million worldwide with a death toll of 2,33,000, while 1.01 million people have recovered from the disease. The United States currently stands as one of the countries to be hardest hit by the crisis with over 1 million cases tested positive.

The statement comes as a stern opposition against the current scenario—as the Trump administration has stiffened its decades-old U.S. trade embargo in a bid to push the one-party system towards reformation. The joint statement came along with a U.N. global mandate to facilitate a further probe into the negative effects of unilateral coercive measures along with the right to development.

As per a recent report, The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control pushed for "released guidance on humanitarian exemptions to Washington’s sanctions, which included Cuba" earlier this month.