The Deputy Prime Minister of Cuba, Inés María Chapman Waugh, led the delegation that presented the Cuban report for the period 2018-2023 to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) of the UN in Geneva.
The regime seized the opportunity to attack Washington before addressing the racial issue. Chapman began his remarks by denouncing what he called an "extreme escalation" of the U.S. embargo and rejecting the Executive Order signed by President Donald Trump on January 29, 2026, which imposed secondary sanctions on countries, companies, and shipping lines exporting fuel to Cuba.
"The blockade is a massive, flagrant, and systematic violation of the human rights of the Cuban people, and it is the main obstacle to our development," Chapman stated before the committee. "No segment of the population or economic sector is unaffected by its effects."
The official also rejected Trump's executive order, stating that it "aims to provoke a social outbreak and a change in the constitutional order freely chosen by our people."
This narrative served as a framework to justify the acknowledged deficiencies in the implementation of anti-racist policies, following the usual pattern of the regime using international human rights forums to divert attention from its own violations.
Regarding substantive content, the Cuban government claimed to have fully or partially implemented 35 of the 38 recommendations from CERD made in 2018, which represents 92%.
Chapman presented the National Program against Racism and Racial Discrimination "Color Cubano", adopted in November 2019, as a central focus of the regime's policies, and emphasized that the National Commission managing it is led by the president of the Republic and coordinated by the Ministry of Culture.
According to the official figures presented to the committee, 64% of the Cuban population over 15 years old is white, 26% are mulatto, and 10% are Black, while 45% of the members of the National Assembly are Black or mulatto, compared to 41% in 2018.
However, independent reports from organizations like Cubalex contradict the official narrative: they document that Afro-descendants make up 56% of the prisoners in Cuba and receive longer average sentences for sedition crimes —13.63 years compared to 12.61 for non-Afro-descendants— disproportionately suffer from extreme poverty, and are victims of selective police repression.
Specific episodes highlight the gap between official discourse and reality. In December 2025, a case of discrimination was reported at the Cuban Art Factory, where a black Cuban was denied entry under the premise of the right of admission, while access was granted to foreigners and white individuals.
The regime itself acknowledged pending challenges before the CERD. "Among the main challenges identified is the need to continue disaggregating statistical data and expanding the collection of information on acts of discrimination based on skin color or racial prejudices," Chapman admitted.
The Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz supported the presentation from Havana by posting on social media that the program "Color Cubano" "reflects the priority that our inclusive and mixed-race nation places on the defense and protection of all rights."
Cuba announced before the CERD its intention to hold a public consultation for the implementation of the "Color Cubano" program in preparation for 2027, aiming to update it and extend it to the general public.
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