Donald Trump urged Cuba to “make a deal” or face the consequences, warning that the flow of Venezuelan oil and money would stop.
The US president has turned his attention to Cuba since US forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in a January 3 raid on its capital, Caracas.
Venezuela, a longtime ally of Cuba, is believed to be sending about 35,000 barrels of oil a day to the island.
Cuba’s foreign minister responded by saying his country retained the right to import fuel “without interference”, while its president said: “No one dictates what we do.”
The Trump administration’s tactic of confiscating sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers has begun to exacerbate Cuba’s fuel and electricity crisis.
On Friday, this the fifth oil tanker was seized it said it brought sanctioned oil from Venezuela.
“Cuba has lived, for years, on huge amounts of OIL and MONEY from Venezuela. In return, Cuba provided ‘Security Services’ for the last two Venezuelan dictators, BUT NO MORE!” Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday.
“NO MONEY OR MONEY IS GOING TO CUBA – ZERO! I strongly suggest that they come to an agreement, BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE.”
Trump did not specify the terms of a deal or the consequences Cuba could face.
But Cuban foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez said the Caribbean island nation has “the absolute right to import fuel” from any willing exporter “without interference or submission to unilateral coercive measures by the United States”.
He added that, unlike the US, Cuba does not lend itself to “blackmail or military coercion against other States”.
Trump also mentioned the raid to arrest Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who is currently facing drug trafficking and other charges in the US.
Cuba has for years provided Maduro with his personal security detail. The Cuban government said 32 of its nationals were killed during the US operation in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas.
Trump said: “Most of the Cubans are DEAD from the USA attack last week, and Venezuela no longer needs protection from the thieves and extortionists who have held them hostage for years.”
“Venezuela now has the United States of America, the strongest military in the World (by far!), to protect them, and protect them we can.”
Rodriguez said that Cuba “has never received monetary or material compensation for the security services it has provided to any country”.
While the Trump administration has not expressed clear plans for Cuba, the US president has previously said that a military intervention is not necessary because the country is “ready to fall”.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated last week that Cuban leaders should be worried, saying he would be “worried” if he was in the Cuban government and that “they are in a lot of trouble”.
On Sunday, Trump also posted on social media a message suggesting that Rubio – a Cuban-American who is a former Florida senator and the son of Cuban exiles – could become president of Cuba.
Trump shared that post with the comment: “Good for me!”
Trump propagated US policy through the lens of a revived 1823 “Monroe Doctrine” that promised US supremacy in the western hemisphere – re-branding it the “Donroe Doctrine”.
The last few months of US foreign policy has become more focused on Latin America and the left-wing leaders with whom he has ideological differences, with US actions justified as the fight against drug trafficking.
After the unprecedented attack in Caracas, Trump said a military operation targeting Colombia was “fine” and repeatedly told President Gustavo Petro to “watch his ass”. The US imposed sanctions on Petro – Colombia’s first leftist leader – in October, saying he was allowing drug cartels to “thrive”.
Trump also said that drugs are “pouring” from Mexico into the US, adding that “we have to do something”. The US president has offered to send US troops to Mexico to fight the cartels, but President Claudia Sheinbaum has publicly rejected any US military action on Mexican soil.
The US and Cuba have had close ties since communist Fidel Castro overthrew a US-backed government in 1959.
While steps were taken to improve diplomatic relations, especially under former US President Barack Obama, the Trump administration reversed most of these steps.
Shortly after being sworn in for a second term, Trump reinstated the designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism, which had been removed days before by President Joe Biden.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on Sunday: “Those who make all business, even human life, do not have the moral authority to point fingers at Cuba for anything, absolutely anything.
“Those who are now hysterically railing against our country are doing so out of anger at the sovereign decision of these people to choose their political model.”