PNP calls on Jamaican gov't to lead Caribbean push for dialogue on Cuba crisis

The People’s National Party (PNP) is urging the Jamaican Government and other Caribbean Community (CARICOM) states to adopt a coordinated regional position on Cuba amid mounting concern over worsening humanitarian conditions on the island.

The Opposition party warned that escalating United States measures against Cuba could destabilise the wider Caribbean and negatively affect Jamaica’s economy, tourism sector and post-hurricane recovery efforts.

The party is calling on the Jamaican Government to work with CARICOM partners to promote “dialogue, restraint and respect for international law” while encouraging Kingston to play “a proactive and positive intermediating role” between Washington and Havana.

"The PNP believes that the Caribbean Community and the wider Caribbean have a strong interest in regional stability and peace, respect for territorial integrity, and the self-determination of all nations,” the party said in a statement on Tuesday.

The PNP pointed to a January 2026 executive order issued by the United States restricting fuel supplies to Cuba, arguing that the move has caused significant hardship for Cubans by disrupting transportation, production and healthcare services.

Citing a United Nations report dated April 6, 2026, the party said Cuba’s health sector had deteriorated sharply, with 96,000 surgeries postponed, including 11,000 involving children, while vaccination delays affected approximately 3,000 children.

The PNP also expressed concern about additional US actions announced on May 1 targeting Cuban state entities and international actors in the energy, finance and defence sectors.

“These actions have been taken notwithstanding that Cuba has stated that it poses no threat to the national security of the United States and remains open to dialogue based on sovereignty, non-interference, and mutual respect,” the statement said.

The Opposition argued that continued tensions could have broader consequences for Jamaica and the region, including “unsustainable migration pressures” and setbacks to economic resilience following Hurricane Melissa.

The party is calling on the Jamaican Government to work with CARICOM partners to promote “dialogue, restraint and respect for international law” while encouraging Kingston to play “a proactive and positive intermediating role” between Washington and Havana.

The statement came amid recent concerns raised by CARICOM’s Council for Foreign and Community Relations over the intensifying economic and fuel restrictions imposed on Cuba.

COFCOR asserted that mounting hardships facing the Cuban people also seriously impact CARICOM nationals studying and living in Cuba, whose well-being, the body said, remains its priority.

“These measures compound the trade and economic embargo imposed on Cuba for over six decades, which has had a deleterious effect on the lives and livelihoods of the Cuban people. 

“COFCOR unequivocally affirms Cuba’s sovereign right to import and receive fuel and condemns the obstruction of energy supplies to Cuba, which has precipitated a grave humanitarian crisis,” it said in the statement not supported by Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago,” the statement said.

Political commentators have described CARICOM’s intervention as an effort to keep international focus on the deepening humanitarian crisis facing the Spanish-speaking Caribbean nation.

At a CARICOM Heads of Government meeting in February in St Kitts and Nevis, Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness signalled a shift toward what he described as “principled realism” on Cuba, while Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar was more direct in rejecting support for communist systems.

Holness called for a “principled realism” that balances traditional regional solidarity with a demand for democratic reform and open-market transitions.

But he also warned that the growing humanitarian crisis Cuba could develop into a regional problem, pointing to a possible immigration threat.

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