Cuba Slams U.S. for ‘Lying’ Over Fuel Blockade

Date: 21 June 2026 - 23:05

News ID: ۱۵۱۱۶۳

HAVANA (Dispatches) - Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla has condemned U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s claim that there is no oil blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba.
In a post published on X on Sunday, Rodríguez wrote: “When Rubio talks about incompetence in Cuba, he should be asked why he lies chronically and contradicts the U.S. president and his spokeswoman by denying the existence of the total fuel blockade that the White House acknowledges.”
“There is no oil blockade on Cuba, per se,” Rubio claimed on Saturday while guest-hosting the daily White House press briefing.
Rodríguez stated that Rubio’s references to the situation in Cuba are consistently framed in a way that avoids responsibility and self-accountability, describing it as “an attempt to present himself as a savior.”
The Cuban foreign minister also denounced the “economic suffocation plan” against his country, saying it prevents foreign companies from selling parts and technology needed for the island’s thermoelectric plants.
The plan “prevents any company in the world from selling oil to our country” and also targets CUPET, the Cuban company responsible for fuel logistics and energy infrastructure, he explained.
He added that it sanctions nickel companies, threatens foreign companies involved in tourism and mining, and strips foreign citizens who visit Cuba of the right to use Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) visas to enter the U.S.
Rodríguez also said Washington pressures and threatens countries that maintain health cooperation agreements with Cuba.
He further stated that Rubio “openly calls for the subversion of Cuba’s constitutional order and persistently seeks U.S. military intervention in Cuba.”
An executive order signed by Trump on January 29 authorized the White House to impose tariffs on countries exporting fuel to Cuba.
So far in 2026, Cuba has received a single shipment of 100,000 tons of crude oil from Russia.