US President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order that would slap additional tariffs on goods from countries that sell or provide oil to Cuba.
The order invokes the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and calls the Cuban government an “extraordinary threat” to US national security.
Cuba’s foreign minister condemned Trump’s executive order, calling it a “brutal act of aggression.”
The move could further aggravate an already deep energy crisis in the country.
The Caribbean island has experienced severe fuel shortages in recent years, impacting its power grid and causing widespread blackouts.
Trump cuts off Venezuelan oil to Cuba
Cuba has largely been under a US embargo since 1962.
“We denounce to the world this brutal act of aggression against Cuba and its people, who for more than 65 years have been subjected to the longest and cruelest economic blockade ever imposed on an entire nation and who are now guaranteed to be subjected to extreme living conditions,” Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez wrote on social media.
Cuba has relied heavily on shipments from allies like Venezuela, Mexico and Russia.
Supplies from Venezuela, however, have ceased since the US launched a military attack earlier this month and kidnapped President Nicolas Maduro.
Trump has said that no more Venezuelan oil will go to Cuba.
He also claimed that the Cuban government is ready to collapse.
Order puts pressure on Mexico
The latest order is likely to put pressure on Mexico, which remains one of the few countries supplying energy to Cuba.
In its most recent report, Mexico’s state-owned oil company Pemex said it shipped nearly 20,000 barrels of oil per day to Cuba from January through September 30, 2025.
But experts who track crude shipments say the figure is likely to have fallen to about 7,000 barrels a day.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has been vague about where her country stood on the issue.
Earlier this week, she denied reports she had stopped oil shipments to Havana.
Sheinbaum, who has sought to forge a strong relationship with Trump, has said that Mexico would continue to show solidarity with Cuba, but didn’t clarify what kind of support Mexico would offer. (DW)