Cuba condemns US energy blockade, fuel shortages impact

Cuba on Wednesday denounced the United States’ blockade on energy supplies to the island, stating that it is hindering the work of international agencies and organizations operating in the Caribbean country and restricting national economic activity, News.Az reports, citing Xinhua.

“It not only restricts the performance of the Cuban economy. It puts the brakes on the work of international agencies and organizations, evidencing its extraterritorial nature,” Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said on social media platform X.

According to data from the United Nations (UN) cited by Rodríguez, approximately 6.3 million U.S. dollars’ worth of essential goods that arrived in Cuba in 170 containers “are not reaching the beneficiaries due to fuel shortages.”

Rodríguez emphasized that the U.S. energy blockade against Cuba has a real and serious impact on the Cuban population and forms part of what he described as “collective punishment” being imposed by Washington on ordinary citizens.

In early June, reports from international and local media indicated that the UN World Food Program and other agencies, including the UN Development Program, were facing difficulties in distributing aid in Cuba due to a lack of fuel.

The United States, which has maintained an economic, commercial, and financial blockade against Cuba for more than six decades, tightened its pressure on the Cuban economy in January by imposing sanctions on countries supplying fuel to the island.

So far this year, Cuba—which depends heavily on oil imports—has received only about 100,000 tons of crude oil delivered by the Russian tanker Anatoly Kolodkin.

According to official sources, Cuba requires around eight fuel ships each month in order to operate normally.

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev