US allows Mexico to supply oil to Cuba despite Trump’s vow to cut off electricity
Despite President Trump’s social media presence announcement On Sunday that “there will be no more oil or money going to Cuba – zero,” the current US policy is to allow Mexico to continue supplying oil to the island, according to Energy Secretary Chris Wright and another US official.
Cuba is in dire need of oil, as Venezuela is no longer supplying it, after the ouster of Nicolás Maduro a week ago.
Mr. Trump spoke with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Monday morning. The White House and the Mexican government have not yet said whether Mexico has access to oil from Cuba.
Mexico, which supplied oil to Cuba before Maduro’s capture by the US, has become the island’s most important oil company since the arrest of the Venezuelan leader, which coincided with the US embargo on oil tankers in Cuba. Sheinbaum called oil “humanitarian aid.”
The US does not want to cause the fall of the Cuban government, but wants to negotiate with Havana to move away from its strong communist system, according to a US official. Written by Mr. Trump on Sunday morning threatened Cuba, advising the island to make a deal “before it’s too late.” At the moment it was not clear what kind of agreement Mr. Later, he re-shared a post predicting that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would become the next president of Cuba. “It sounds good to me,” Mr. Trump you made a comment.
The Cuban government had a contemptuous response to the threats of Mr.
“As history shows, the relationship between the US and Cuba, in order to develop, must be based on International Law rather than hostility, threats, and economic coercion,” said Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez on X Monday.
He also denied that there are any ongoing discussions.
“There are no talks with the US government, except for technical contacts in the field of migration,” said Díaz-Canel in another X post.
The US is assessing whether a total cutoff or embargo in Cuba would be a shock to Havana’s already overtaxed and depleted power grid, which has been plagued by blackouts. The economic situation in Cuba is dire – a US official confirmed to CBS News that the country is so cash-strapped that its leaders have been selling Venezuelan oil to China, the New York Times first reported. This was exacerbating the ongoing power shortage on the island even before Maduro’s arrest.
That dire economic situation in Havana grew, as it has now lost almost all of its sponsors, and Russia is tied to Ukraine.
The regime has been closely tied to Venezuela: It recently admitted that at least 32 Cubans who were protecting Maduro were killed there. The US raided to arrest him. So far, Cuban officials have denied that its intel and security forces have provided personal protection for Maduro, even protecting him from his own people as part of an oil security arrangement between the two governments.
The regime in Havana is under great pressure but has had great staying power so far. That seems to be the reason for the CIA’s mixed assessment of its sustainability.
In October, the US offered humanitarian aid to Cuba, to be delivered by local partners, not the government. Cuban and American officials told CBS News it still hasn’t arrived.
