Cuba: Humanitarian Situation

Lord Alton of Liverpool Excerpts

Tuesday 9th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

I hear what the noble Lord says, but what the United Kingdom Government have been doing is engaging with both the United States and Cuba. We welcome the dialogue taking place between those countries. Certainly, we are incredibly concerned about the current humanitarian situation. Our first concern is obviously also with United Kingdom citizens who may be involved, but our priority is to ensure, working through United Nations agencies, that humanitarian aid is delivered to the people of Cuba—who, as the noble Lord points out, have suffered tremendously, and that needs to be addressed.

[Lord Alton of Liverpool (CB)]

My Lords, in that one-party state which systematically suppresses dissent, freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, which routinely uses sham trials and which imposes arbitrary detention in harsh prison conditions, targeting journalists, labour activists and pro-democracy activists, can the Minister explore ways in which we can provide practical support and encouragement to groups such as Cuba’s Ladies in White, composed of women relatives of political dissidents and recipient of the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought? Can he also say when we last raised with the Cuban authorities the denial of access to the International Committee of the Red Cross to Cuba’s horrific prisons?

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

On the latter point, my honourable friend the Minister in the other place, Chris Elmore, has been in touch with the Cuban authorities. He has also spoken to the Cuban ambassador about these issues. We have been clear in our long-standing bilateral relationship, which has provided the opportunity for frank and constructive dialogue and allows us to continuously raise these human rights issues. The noble Lord is absolutely right, but we continue to press for the release of political prisoners by directly engaging, as I say, with the ambassador. We welcome also the release last year of prisoners under a Vatican-mediated agreement, so we are absolutely clear that these things must be properly raised with the Cuban authorities.