Jamaica’s Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness on Tuesday urged Caribbean Community (Caricom) member states to address the humanitarian crisis in Cuba “with clarity and courage” and suggested that wise, skilful, and prudent management is needed to resolve the deepening geopolitical conflict between Washington and Havana.

Holness, the immediate past chairman of the regional bloc, was delivering his address on the opening day of Caricom’s 50th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government in Basseterre, St Kitts and Nevis.

The conference, scheduled to close on February 27, is being held against the backdrop of rising concerns in the region over the crisis in Cuba, triggered by United States President Donald Trump’s oil blockade on the Spanish-speaking country.

Trump cut off key supplies of Venezuelan oil to Cuba after ousting Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, and has threatened sanctions on states that sell oil to Havana.

Cuba, under a US trade embargo since 1962, has for years battled extended power cuts and shortages of fuel, medicine and food, even before the Caribbean country of 9.6 million people lost its main oil supplier last month.

In his address to Caricom heads on Tuesday, Holness pointed to the role that Cuba has played in supporting its Caribbean neighbours.

“Its doctors and teachers have served across our region. Its people are part of our shared history. But today, the Cuban people face severe economic hardship, energy shortages and growing humanitarian strain,” Holness said.

He declared that Jamaica is sensitive to the struggles of the Cuban people and pointed out that “Humanitarian suffering serves no one”.

“Apart from our fraternal care and solidarity with the Cuban people, it must be clear that a prolonged crisis in Cuba will not remain confined to Cuba. It will affect migration, security, and economic stability across the Caribbean basin. It is, therefore, important that we carefully consider this matter and take collective action,” Holness said.

“Let there be no doubt, Jamaica stands firmly for democracy, human rights, political accountability, and open market-based economies. We do not believe that long-term stability can exist where economic freedom is constrained and political participation is limited. Sustainable prosperity requires openness to ideas, to enterprise, to investment, and to the will of the people. This moment, therefore, calls not for rhetoric, but for responsible statecraft, even as we encourage support for humanitarian relief,” Holness said.

He said that Jamaica supports constructive dialogue between Cuba and the United States aimed at de-escalation, reform, and stability.

“We believe there is space, perhaps more space now than in years past, for pragmatic engagement that protects the Cuban people from any further deterioration in their circumstances, and instead promotes national and regional prosperity,” Holness argued.

“This may well be a moment of opportunity, a moment for transition, for recalibration, for a new chapter. Caricom can play a constructive role, not as an ideological bloc, but as a community of democratic states offering cooperation, economic reform, and social development. This is not a moment for division in our community, it is a moment for maturity, for principled realism, and if we act wisely, for positive change in our hemisphere,” the Jamaican prime minister said.