More than two months after the United States took extreme measures to block oil supplies from entering the Caribbean nation, Cuba’s humanitarian situation is worsening as fuel shortages deepen. Since January, Cuba has experienced a significant reduction in its capacity to import fuel, resulting in a ripple effect on vital services such as healthcare, education, sanitation, and food and water availability.
The Caribbean country produces less than 40 per cent of the fuel it needs, and restoration efforts continue to prioritize hospitals and critical infrastructure amid an ageing and highly vulnerable grid. There is growing global concern over the impact of economic sanctions on the Cuban population.
At a press briefing in New York earlier this week, Francisco Pichon, the United Nations’ top official in Cuba, said that there was “concern that the crisis could deepen”, with shortages creating “acute humanitarian risks” for vulnerable groups.
Cuba has suffered three nationwide grid collapses in March alone, leaving over 10 million people – the entire population – without electricity after three consecutive months without diesel, fuel oil, gasoline, jet fuel or liquefied petroleum gas.
Impacts of last year's Hurricane Melissa are still being felt
While the country is still addressing the direct impacts of last year's Hurricane Melissa, the situation has been exacerbated by extreme energy instability and limitations. An acute fuel shortage has resulted in nationwide electricity instability and prolonged blackouts of up to 20 hours per day in some provinces.
This situation is also hindering humanitarian operations, with fuel availability being the main obstacle to delivering aid. This follows several recent shocks, including Hurricane Melissa in October, which impacted over 2.2 million people.
Melissa was one of the strongest hurricanes ever recorded in the Caribbean. After striking Jamaica, Melissa made landfall in Cuba as a Category 3 storm with sustained winds of approximately 195 km/h (125 mph). The hurricane produced extreme rainfall, resulting in catastrophic flooding, landslides, and other severe storm surge impacts.
Despite the Cuban authorities' and the Cuban Red Cross's extensive preparedness efforts, including evacuating approximately 735,000 people, the hurricane severely damaged homes, schools, health facilities, water and electricity systems, as well as livelihoods.
The eastern provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Granma, and Holguín were hit hardest, with more than 215,000 homes damaged and 645,000 people affected.
UN launches revised action plan
On Tuesday, the United Nations (UN) launched a revised Plan of Action to address the humanitarian impact of the ongoing energy crisis in Cuba, following the US Executive Order and other sanctions, as well as the continuing impact of Hurricane Melissa, for which an initial plan had been launched in November 2025.
The US$94 million restructured plan aims to assist 2 million of the 4.2 million people most affected by the energy crisis and Hurricane Melissa. The targeted group comprises about one in five people living in Cuba. About $26 million has already been received, leaving a gap of $68 million. So additional funding is urgently needed.
According to the UN, the revised plan expands its geographic scope to nearly half of all Cuban provinces and prioritizes activities that can be implemented despite current operational constraints.
The focus is on maintaining essential services and ensuring the continuity of life-sustaining supply chains, including those related to health, water and sanitation, food security, education, housing, and protection services.
The plan will also support critical sectors with alternative energy solutions to help keep essential services functioning. Access to fuel is the primary operational priority and a prerequisite for implementing the plan.
In the Caribbean nation, about 90 percent of essential services rely on oil, including the treatment of 5 million people with chronic illnesses and the provision of drinking water to 1 million people who depend on tanker trucks.
Additionally, over 80 percent of water pumping equipment in Cuba depends on electricity, and power outages are hindering access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene.
WHO: Blockade of Cuba having major impact on healthcare
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Wednesday that there are growing risks to healthcare, water services, and food distribution as the country’s energy reserves continue to fall.
"The situation in Cuba is deeply concerning as the country struggles to maintain health service delivery at a time of immense turbulence, leading to energy shortages that have been affecting health," Ghebreyesus wrote on social media.
The WHO chief stressed that health should be protected at all costs and should never be at the mercy of geopolitics, energy blockades, or power outages.
Human rights in peril
Amid a decades-long financial and trade embargo, extreme weather events, and recent US measures restricting oil shipments, the situation in Cuba is becoming increasingly dire. Last month, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) expressed deep concern about Cuba’s deepening socioeconomic crisis.
OHCHR warned that the crisis was severely impacting the human rights of Cubans. The dependence of health, food, and water systems on imported fossil fuels means that the current oil scarcity is putting the availability of essential services at risk nationwide.
In February, UN human rights experts also condemned the US executive order that declared a national emergency and authorized the imposition of trade tariffs on oil imports to Cuba from third countries.
The experts expressed deep concern about the foreseeable humanitarian consequences of restricting Cuba's fuel supply through the coercion of third states, as the country already experienced severe energy shortages due to previous U.S. sanctions.
"Interfering with fuel imports could lead to a severe humanitarian crisis with knock-on effects for essential services," the independent experts warned even back then.