The Diplomatic Blunder

 Where Is Seychelles When Cuba Needs Its Friends

What is Patrick Herminie doing to support Cuba in the face of increasingly severe American sanctions? This is a question Seychellois should be asking openly.

Cuba has stood alongside Seychelles for decades. It has sent doctors to strengthened our healthcare system, trained generation of Seychellois medical professionals, provided scholarships for Seychellois students to study medicine and supplied specialists to our hospitals. The Seychelles Government has repeatedly acknowledged the importance of this cooperation.

President Herminie has praised the Cuban medical brigade and expressed support for stronger cooperation in health, education and other fields. Seychelles has also announced plans to open an embassy in Havana.

Friendship is not only about ceremonies and warm words. When a country that has supported Seychelles for decades faces serious economic pressure, what practical solidarity is Seychelles prepared to offer?

Will Seychelles Raise Its Voice When Cuba Needs It?

Will the Government of Seychelles defend the principle that sanctions should not impose unnecessary economic and humanitarian suffering on ordinary Cuban people? Will Seychelles speak about Cuba with the same conviction it brings to other international question?

Seychelles also has a significant maritime presence and tanker capacity. Could any of its vessels lawfully assist Cuba with essential fuel and humanitarian supplies?

That question cannot be answered simply by pointing to the existence of a tanker. Any proposed voyage would require a careful legal and commercial assessment, including the vessel's ownership and flag, the nature and destination of the cargo, the identities of the parties involved, applicable sanctions and export-control rules, port requirements, banking arrangements, insurance and reinsurance and the laws of any other country connected with the transaction.

Humanitarian assistance may be treated differently from commercial trade under some sanctions regimes but humanitarian purposes do not automatically make every transaction lawful.

Exemptions, general licences, specific licences and other authorisations may be limited by their wording and conditions. A transaction may therefore require advance legal advice and where appropriate, authorisation from the relevant authorities.

International law also does not provide a general licence to ignore another country's sanctions. the legality of any assistance would depend on the applicable international obligations, domestic laws and the specific facts of the propose operation. Seychelles could, however, seek clarification, request or support humanitarian authorisations and advocate for arrangements that reduce risk of sanctions being applied to legitimate humanitarian activity. these are legitimate questions.

Seychelles should not recklessly violate sanction or expose its shipping, banks insurers and citizens to unnecessary risk. But there is a difference between breaking the law and using diplomacy to challenge policies it considers unjust. 

Seychelles could raise the humanitarian consequences of sanctions at the United Nations and in other multilateral forums. it could also make its position clear without claiming that every form of trade or maritime assistance is automatically permitted.

Our Foreign Affairs Minister himself studies in Havana. That makes the question even more pertinent.

When Cuba helped Seychelles build its healthcare capacity, where will Seychelles stand when Cuba needs international solidarity?

Friendship should not exist only when it is convenient. Cuba was always there for Seychelles.

Is Seychelles Going To Be There For Cuba?

There is no evidence that President Patrick Herminie made a specific proposal concerning Cuba during his UNGA address or his reported high-level UN meetings (September 2026).

However, there is an important Cuba connection in Herminie's political record. In March 2021, when he was leader of the United Seychelles, he wrote to the Cuban Embassy expressing support and solidarity with Cuba and opposition to the Us blockade. This is recorded in a UN document.

There was no publicly documented bilateral meeting between President Patrick Herminie and the Cuban delegation or Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez during his New York Visit.

The Seychelles State House has been publishing detailed accounts of Herminie's bilateral meetings. Foe example, it reported his meetings with Un Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the African Union Commission Deputy Chairperson, as well as other engagements. State House announcement before his departure specifically said that Herminie would have "a series of high-level engagements and bilateral meeting."

Interestingly, the Cuban Foreign Minister was very active in New York. Bruno Rodriguez held more than 30 bilateral meetings with senior UN officials and presidents from Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia and Oceania. Cuba's principal diplomatic message was the humanitarian situation in Cuba and opposition to the US sanctions/embargo.

On the 29 September, the President of the UN General Assembly, Khalilur Rahman, had a documented meeting with Rodriguez specifically concerning Cuba's expectations for the 81st session and the forthcoming debate on the embargo. So there is an interesting question here:

Herminie's own UN speech contains language that is quite compatible with Cuba's diplomatic position, particularly his rejection of "unilateral coersive measures" and his emphasis on equal application of international law. But Cuba is not mentioned by name in the speech.

That matters because Herminie has documented history of explicitly supporting Cuba. In 2021, as  leader of the United Seychelles, he condemned the US blockade and expressed solidarity with Cuba. 

Was this action only to undermined the LDS in power?