The Brazilian president spoke about the island during the opening of the 39th FAO Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean
EFE (via 14ymedio), Brasilia, 4 March 2026 — Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defended Cuba this Wednesday and said its people “are going hungry because they don’t want them to have access” to the basics, right in the middle of the US government’s oil blockade against the island.
“Cuba isn’t going hungry because they don’t know how to produce or don’t know how to build their own energy. Cuba is going hungry because they don’t want them to have access to the things everyone should have a right to,” the so-called “progressive” leader said at the opening of the 39th FAO Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean, in Brasília.
He used Cuba and Haiti as examples while slamming world leaders for not making the fight against hunger a priority and instead pumping more money into defense budgets.
“Suppose we don’t help Cuba because of ideological persecution: ‘We’re not helping Cuba because it’s a communist country’; then at least help Haiti, which is devastated, going through as much hunger as Cuba and being run by gangs,” Lula told representatives from Latin American and Caribbean governments.
“Suppose we don’t help Cuba because of ideological persecution: ‘We’re not helping Cuba because it’s a communist country’; then at least help Haiti, which is devastated”
Cuba is in the middle of a serious fuel shortage crisis, made way worse by pressure from US President Donald Trump’s government after the intervention in Venezuela on January 3, which ended with Nicolás Maduro’s capture. Right after that, the US announced it was cutting off Venezuela’s oil supply to the island.
A few weeks later, on January 29, he signed an executive order threatening tariffs on any country that supplied oil to Cuba, claiming the island was a national security threat to the US. Trump then urged Havana to negotiate “before it’s too late.”
In this context, Lula called on Latin American and Caribbean countries to “wake up” and say they’re not accepting “submission” anymore — that they want, sovereignly, food for their people.
“We’re the only zone of peace in the world. Brazil chose not to have nuclear weapons and it’s right there in our Constitution. That saying ‘if you want peace, prepare for war’ is for people who want to make war,” he said.
He stressed that Latin America is a “rich” region that “basically has everything nature can offer,” but a lot of those resources end up being exploited by “people who aren’t from here” to make weapons.
“If we can’t wipe out hunger on the planet, it’s not because there’s too much rain or too much sun — it’s because of too much irresponsibility and lack of commitment (…) Hunger has to be treated as a top priority” and “we’re only going to end it when there’s real political will,” he insisted.
Translated by GH
______________________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.