Ireland urges citizens to avoid nonessential travel to Cuba as fuel shortages, rolling blackouts and shrinking access to food and medical care deepen one of the island’s worst humanitarian crises in decades.
In updated guidance issued in recent days, Ireland joined the United Kingdom and Canada in advising against travel to the Caribbean nation “unless absolutely necessary.” The Department of Foreign Affairs said Cuba is now under its second-highest advisory level, warning that travel is likely to present “a clear and present danger to your health or safety,” citing shortages of food, fuel and electricity and “very limited access to medical care.”
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The alerts come amid mounting pressure on Cuba’s communist government and a spiraling economic emergency that analysts say is battering the country’s 10 million people. The U.N. human rights office said the fuel crisis is jeopardizing essential services nationwide — from hospital care and food distribution to communications — as outages stretch from hours into days.
“This is having an increasingly severe impact on the human rights of people in Cuba,” said Marta Hurtado, spokesperson for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. With more than 80% of water pumping systems dependent on electricity, she said, prolonged power cuts are undermining access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene, hitting the most vulnerable hardest. “We are extremely worried about Cuba’s deepening socio-economic crisis.”
Lines for basic goods now form before dawn in many neighborhoods, residents report, while candles and flashlights have become necessities amid an unpredictable grid. The compounding pressures have also begun to ripple outward, disrupting air links and tourism, a crucial pillar of the island’s economy.
Some airlines, including Air Canada, announced they would suspend flights to Cuba over the lack of a guaranteed fuel supply. Travel agents in Ireland say demand from Irish holidaymakers was already “very low,” citing the absence of direct flights and the added complication that travelers who visit Cuba are ineligible for U.S. ESTA entry and must instead apply for a U.S. visa.
Ireland does not maintain an embassy or consulate in Havana, but the foreign ministry said it remains in contact with a very small number of Irish citizens living in Cuba through the Irish Embassy in Mexico. It is unclear how many Irish tourists are currently on the island.
The crisis has unfolded against a backdrop of long-strained U.S.-Cuba relations dating to the early 1960s, when Washington imposed sweeping economic measures after Fidel Castro’s revolution. The United States continues to characterize Cuba as an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security and accuses Havana of supporting transnational terrorist groups — assertions Cuba rejects, calling instead for constructive engagement and peaceful coexistence.
Carlos de Cossio, Cuba’s deputy foreign minister, has described fuel restrictions as the “equivalent to war,” arguing that “massive (collective) punishment is a crime.” International diplomatic pushes to ease sanctions have so far failed to shift U.S. policy. Ireland is among dozens of countries that have repeatedly supported U.N. resolutions calling for an end to the embargo, most recently in October.
Dublin’s position remains unchanged. “We, alongside our EU colleagues, have long considered that it serves no constructive purpose and it has resulted in significant negative impacts for the Cuban people, over many years,” a Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said. At the same time, Ireland reiterated calls for democratization and political transition in Cuba, saying the government imposes severe restrictions on basic rights, including freedom of speech and assembly.
For a nation heavily reliant on tourism revenue, the fuel shortage and aviation disruptions threaten a sector already strained by years of economic stagnation. With blackouts growing longer and supplies tighter, foreign governments are stepping up warnings — and travelers are being urged to reconsider.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
