U.N. Condemns U.S. Measures Halting Oil Deliveries to Cuba

United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk urged the lifting of U.S. sanctions that impede oil deliveries to Cuba, criticizing the widespread disruption they cause the Caribbean nation as a rights violation. The measures were installed last month by the Trump administration after the U.S.

captured Nicolás Maduro and seized control of Venezuela’s oil industry. Cuba’s loss of oil imports since the U.S. took control of the oil industry in Venezuela, its biggest supplier, has crippled an already struggling economy that depends heavily on oil to generate the electricity that powers the island.

“We are extremely worried about Cuba’s deepening socio-economic crisis — amid a decades-long financial and trade embargo, extreme weather events, and the recent U.S. measures restricting oil shipments,” Marta Hurtado, a spokeswoman for Mr. Türk’s office in Geneva, said.

Cuba, Geneva

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