The Cuban government denied the U.S. embassy in Havana’s request to import fuel to keep generators running for the building, as the country experiences island-wide blackouts amid a dire oil shortage caused by the Trump administration.
In diplomatic cables from earlier this month, obtained by The Washington Post, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Relations told U.S. diplomats it was “bold” and “shameless” of the United States to try to ship two containers of fuel for the embassy in Havana.
“The Ministry interprets as shameless the claim by the diplomatic mission to access a good as a privilege that it denies to the Cuban people,” the ministry said, according to a Washington Post translation of the note.
Since January, the Trump administration has cut off Cuba’s access to subsidized oil from Venezuela in an attempt to pressure leaders of the island country into political concessions. But it’s left Cubans without fuel for transportation, trash pick-up, electricity, water pumping and more.
Should the embassy run out of fuel, it could force the U.S. government to remove nonessential staff by May, or earlier, the embassy warned the State Department in a note Wednesday.
The Independent has asked the State Department for comment.
For months, Cuba has been struggling to meet energy demands from its more than 11 million residents after the U.S. captured the now-deposed leader of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, and began controlling the country’s oil exports.
Hospitals have canceled surgeries, schools have reduced classes, trash has piled up on streets, drinking water is becoming more difficult to obtain and the country has experienced island-wide blackouts periodically.
Staff at the U.S. embassy in Havana have reportedly been asked to consolidate their energy usage by working remotely, combining housing and limiting generator usage among other tactics, a source told The Washington Post.
In its note, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Relations told the U.S. that the administration’s blockade of fuel was “causing the greatest possible harm to the Cuban economy, the well-being of the people, and their standard of living.”
The U.S. has put the Cuban government, led by President Miguel Díaz-Canel, under immense pressure to comply with the president’s wishes for a new leader, better business opportunities with the U.S., the release of political prisoners and more.
To do so, they’ve cut off the country’s access to oil from Venezuela as well as Mexico. The U.S. has warned allies that those who provide or sell oil to Cuba could face steep tariffs.
