Cuba has strongly rejected fresh threats from United States President Donald Trump after he ordered an end to all Venezuelan oil and financial flows to the island and urged Havana to strike a deal with Washington “before it is too late.”
In a post on his Truth Social platform on Sunday, Trump said Cuba had long depended on oil and money from Venezuela in exchange for providing security services to the country’s former leaders. He declared that arrangement over, insisting there would be “no more oil or money going to Cuba - zero.”
Trump did not spell out the terms of any proposed deal but has intensified rhetoric against the communist-run island in recent weeks. Earlier in the day, he reposted a message suggesting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio could one day become president of Cuba, adding: “Sounds good to me!”
The move follows a sharp disruption in Venezuela’s oil exports after US forces abducted President Nicolás Maduro on January 3 and imposed a strict oil blockade. Shipping data shows that no Venezuelan oil cargoes have reached Cuba since then.
Venezuela has been Cuba’s main oil supplier for decades, providing about 26,500 barrels per day last year - roughly half of Cuba’s oil deficit - despite declining output. Cuba also imports smaller volumes of crude from Mexico.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel dismissed Trump’s warning, saying Cuba would not be dictated to by the United States.
“Cuba is a free, independent and sovereign nation,” Díaz-Canel said on X, accusing Washington of attacking Cuba for more than six decades.
Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez went further, branding the US an “out-of-control criminal hegemon” and insisting Cuba has the right to import fuel from any country willing to sell it. He denied claims that Cuba received financial compensation for security services abroad.
Analysts warn that cutting off Venezuelan oil could worsen Cuba’s already severe economic crisis, marked by rolling blackouts, fuel shortages, falling agricultural output and declining tourism.
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