Trump cuts off Venezuelan oil to Cuba, telling Havana to “make a deal”

United States President Donald Trump has declared that no more Venezuelan oil or money will reach Cuba, escalating pressure on the communist-run island and signalling a new phase in Washington’s confrontation with one of its longest-standing adversaries.

“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO! I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday.

“Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of OIL and MONEY from Venezuela,” he added.

Venezuela has long been Cuba’s largest oil supplier, but no shipments have left Venezuelan ports for the island since US forces abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on January 3, according to shipping data. The halt comes amid a strict US oil blockade imposed on the OPEC member.

Trump did not spell out what kind of “deal” he has in mind, but his administration’s tone toward Havana has hardened sharply in recent weeks. Earlier on Sunday, Trump reposted a message suggesting that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio could one day become president of Cuba, adding: “Sounds good to me!”

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel rejected Trump’s threats, insisting the island would not bow to pressure.

“Cuba is a free, independent, and sovereign nation. Nobody dictates what we do,” Diaz-Canel wrote on X. “Cuba does not attack; it has been attacked by the US for 66 years, and it does not threaten; it prepares, ready to defend the homeland to the last drop of blood.”

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez echoed that message, saying “right and justice are on Cuba’s side” and accusing Washington of behaving like “an out-of-control criminal hegemon that threatens peace and security… throughout the entire world”.

Rodriguez also stressed that Cuba has the right to import fuel from any supplier willing to sell it, and denied that Havana had received financial or other “material” compensation in exchange for providing security services to any country.

Under a decades-long US trade embargo, Cuba has increasingly relied on Venezuelan oil since 2000, when a supply deal was struck with then-President Hugo Chavez. Although Venezuela’s refining capacity has deteriorated in recent years, it remained Cuba’s largest supplier, exporting about 26,500 barrels per day last year, according to ship-tracking data and internal documents from state oil company PDVSA.

Those shipments covered roughly half of Cuba’s oil deficit. The island also imports smaller volumes of crude and fuel from Mexico.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said last week that Mexico had not increased its exports to Cuba, but acknowledged that recent political upheaval in Venezuela had turned Mexico into an “important supplier”.