The University of Cambridge and University of Nottingham have suspended their study abroad programs in Cuba, Latin America Reports has discovered, as the country undergoes an intensifying crisis.

The pause occurred in February this year shortly after a warning by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) “against all but essential travel to Cuba,” citing concerns over political instability and energy shortages.

The change in guidelines comes as the island experiences what some say is its worst crisis on record, precipitated by an intensifying U.S. sanctions regime and decades of government mismanagement.

The FCDO’s guidance names “shortages of fuel, electricity, water and basic necessities” as factors which have influenced their travel advice, along with “frequent protests”, which they say could escalate. Also mentioned are difficulties with payments, as the Cuban Central Bank says that international cards are no longer accepted, even at ATMs. 

“Year Abroad policies are strictly guided by FCDO travel advice, not least because this impacts the availability of travel insurance,” a spokesperson from Cambridge University’s Modern and Medieval Languages Department told Latin America Reports.

They added that exchange students have faced water shortages and weeks without electricity, which started to raise concerns for their safety. 

Parvathi Kumaraswami, Professor of Latin American Studies and Director of the Centre for Research on Cuba at the University of Nottingham, also discussed the new arrangements. 

“I am fully aware that the FCDO advice needs to be followed by universities, whether it regards the safety of students abroad or insurance questions,” she told Latin America Reports.

She expressed her sadness regarding the situation, commenting that many students from Nottingham had studied in Havana over the years and had returned to Nottingham gushing about their experiences. 

“Students come back with a sense of understanding of what Cuba really is, for good and for bad, and that’s really the aim of our center, to provide a clear and objective perspective on Cuba.”

Kumaraswami added that studying abroad in Cuba has given students “an understanding that the world is a diverse and fascinating place, and that it’s also given them an opportunity to reflect on their own value systems, their own ideologies, their own ways of living and cultures, not necessarily to embrace the Cuban system, but to make some really useful comparisons.” 

The professor also expressed concern that this might signal the permanent end of study abroad programmes with Cuba.

Former students who studied abroad in Havana have reacted to the news in different ways. 

Hussein Sameh, a University of Nottingham graduate who was studying in Cuba in 2011, called the decision a “travesty”, which “doesn’t make sense”. He is concerned the suspension of the study abroad program plays into U.S. plans to increase Cuba’s isolation from the rest of the world. 

Sameh fears that if Cuba becomes more isolated, the rest of the world will know less about the effects of Washington’s policy of sanctions and blockades.

He also highlighted that the program started soon after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the tightening of U.S. sanctions, and the subsequent crisis in 1990s Cuba called the “Special Period”, describing the university agreements as “so vital in creating a cultural connection and in bearing witness to what is actually happening in Cuba”. 

Another former exchange student from 2011, who wishes to remain anonymous, shared similar worries that Cuba is becoming isolated. She told Latin America Reports that she believes the media already portrays the islands as more unsafe than it is, adding that this “feeds a narrative”.

But unlike Hussein, the former student said that she would “absolutely not” go to Cuba on her year abroad now. Despite describing her experience in Havana as “the best six months [she’s] ever had”, she added that she “knows how hard it can be” and therefore understands the FCDO advice. 

She recalls difficulties with accessing electricity and medication from her time in Cuba, and hearing from Cuban friends in the capital, she knows that the situation is now worse. 

Raphael McMahon, a graduate from the University of Cambridge who studied in Havana from August 2022 until January 2023, said he believes the decision is not malicious.

“Those who organize university exchange programs have a duty of care to the students they send abroad. I’m sure that those organizers naturally err on the side of caution and their decision to follow FCDO advice, however disappointing, is one likely taken in good faith,” McMahon told Latin America Reports.

This is not the first time that the Cuba study abroad programme has made headlines. In June 2026, Sameh was involved in publishing an open letter to the UK Government in The National, one of Scotland’s biggest papers, calling for the government to “oppose with all its means” the U.S. blockade of Cuba. The letter was signed by 60 UK students who studied abroad in Havana, saying the blockade aimed to “starve the Cuban people” by cutting off international trade. The UK government did not respond. 

Washington’s last study abroad programme with Havana, known as CASA (The Consortium for Advanced Studies Abroad), has also closed, amidst threats of military action from the Trump administration and further effects brought by the U.S. sanctions and oil blockade.

Featured image description: Sunset over the Malecón in Havana, Cuba.

Featured image credit: Riccardo Maria Mantero via Flickr