U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday called on Cuba to strike a deal or face repercussions, cautioning that the supply of Venezuelan oil and funds to Havana would be halted.
Venezuela has long been Cuba’s largest oil provider, but under a tight U.S. blockade, no Venezuelan oil shipments have reached the Caribbean nation since U.S. forces captured President Nicolás Maduro earlier this month.
Trump has since increased his focus on Cuba after the seizure of Maduro in a January 3 operation in Caracas.
Cuba has been receiving roughly 35,000 barrels of Venezuelan oil per day, making the potential cutoff a significant blow to the island’s energy supply.
“Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of OIL and MONEY from Venezuela. In return, Cuba provided ‘security services’ for the last two Venezuelan dictators, BUT NOT ANYMORE,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA—ZERO! I strongly suggest they make a deal BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE,” he added.
Trump did not clarify the conditions of any agreement or what repercussions Cuba might face. Meanwhile, Cuba’s foreign minister stated that the country reserves the right to import fuel from any exporter ‘without interference.’
Under a U.S. trade embargo, Cuba has become increasingly dependent on Venezuelan oil since reaching a preferential deal with Hugo Chávez’s government in 2000.
As Venezuela’s own refining capacity weakened and output declined in recent years, the flow of crude and fuel to Cuba has dropped, though Venezuela remains the island’s largest supplier, covering about half of its oil deficit.
Meanwhile, Caracas and Washington are negotiating a $2 billion oil deal to supply up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan crude to the United States, with proceeds to be held in U.S. Treasury‑supervised accounts.
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