By Dave Sherwood and Marianna Parraga
HAVANA/HOUSTON, January 11 (Reuters) – US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that no more Venezuelan oil or money would go to Cuba and suggested that the Communist-ruled island should reach an agreement with Washington, increasing pressure on the United States’ longtime nemesis and provoking words of defiance from the island’s leadership.
Venezuela is Cuba’s biggest oil supplier, but no cargo has left Venezuelan ports for the Caribbean country since the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by US forces in early January amid a tight US oil embargo on the OPEC country, shipping data show.
Meanwhile, Caracas and Washington are moving forward on a $2 billion deal to supply up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil to the United States with proceeds to be deposited in accounts overseen by the US Treasury, a key test of the emerging relationship between Trump and interim President Delcy Rodriguez.
“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO! I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE,” Trump wrote on his Social Truth platform on Sunday.
“Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of OIL and MONEY from Venezuela,” Trump added.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel dismissed Trump’s threat on social media, suggesting the United States had no moral authority to force a deal on Cuba.
“Cuba is a free, independent and sovereign nation. No one dictates what we do,” said Diaz-Canel on X. “Cuba does not attack; it has been attacked by the United States for 66 years, and it does not threaten; it prepares, it is ready to defend the homeland until the last drop of blood.”
The US President did not elaborate on his suggested agreement.
But Trump’s push on Cuba represents the latest escalation in his move to bring regional powers into line with the United States and underscores the seriousness of the administration’s ambition to dominate the Western Hemisphere.
Top Trump officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have made no secret of their expectation that the recent US intervention in Venezuela could push Cuba over the top.
US officials have tempered their anti-Cuba rhetoric in recent weeks, although the two countries have been at odds since former leader Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution.
CUBA defends IMPORT RIGHTS
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said in another post on X on Sunday that Cuba had the right to import fuel from any supplier willing to export it. He also denied that Cuba had received financial or other “material” compensation in return for security services provided to any country.
Thirty-two members of Cuba’s armed forces and intelligence services were killed during the US raid in Venezuela. Cuba said those killed were responsible for “security and defense” but did not provide details on the arrangement between the two longtime allies.
Cuba relies on imported crude oil and fuel mainly provided by Venezuela, and Mexico in smaller volumes, bought on the open market to keep its power generators and vehicles running.
As its operational refining capacity has declined in recent years, Venezuela’s supply of crude oil and fuel to Cuba has declined. But the South American country remains the biggest supplier with some 26,500 barrels a day exported last year, according to ship tracking data and internal documents of the state-run PDVSA, which covered roughly 50% of Cuba’s oil deficit.
Even before Maduro’s capture, Cuba was struggling to keep the lights on. Large swathes of the island live without electricity for much of the day, and even the capital Havana has seen its economy disrupted by hours-long blackouts.
The lack of food, fuel and medicine has put Cubans on edge and led to a record exodus, primarily to the United States, in the last five years.
MEXICO BECOME A MAIN SUPPLIER
Mexico has emerged in recent weeks as a critical alternative oil supplier to the island, but supply remains small, according to shipping data.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said last week that her country had not increased supply volumes, but due to the recent political events in Venezuela, Mexico had turned into an “important supplier” of crude oil to Cuba.
US intelligence paints a bleak picture of Cuba’s economic and political situation, but its assessments offer no clear support for Trump’s prediction that the island is “ready to fall,” Reuters reported on Saturday, citing three people familiar with the confidential assessments.
The CIA’s view is that key sectors of the Cuban economy, such as agriculture and tourism, are highly vulnerable to frequent blackouts, trade sanctions and other problems. The potential loss of oil imports and other support from Venezuela could make governance more difficult for Diaz-Canel.
(Reporting by Nilutpal Timsina in Bengaluru; Editing by David Goodman and Bill Berkrot)