Cuba Accuses US of Economic Strangulation

International tensions over Cuba’s energy sector escalated this week after Washington imposed fresh sanctions targeting the island’s state oil industry, prompting sharp accusations from Havana that the measures are intended to cripple its ability to secure fuel from domestic resources.

Cuba’s Ambassador to Antigua and Barbuda, Sergio Martínez, said the United States was escalating what he called an “economic strangulation campaign” following new restrictions on the state-owned oil sector.

On Thursday, the administration of US President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on Cuba’s state-owned oil company Unión Cuba-Petróleo, known as CUPET, as part of efforts to restrict fuel supplies and increase pressure on Havana.

The sanctions freeze any US-based assets of CUPET and prohibit companies with US operations from doing business with the enterprise, intensifying strain amid Cuba’s worsening energy shortages following reduced Venezuelan supply after the removal of President Nicolas Maduro by American forces in January.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused the government of Miguel Díaz-Canel of using the firm as “a tool of repression and self-serving regime kleptocracy” in announcing the sanctions.

He further alleged decades of under-investment, diversion of resources, and rationing of energy for control purposes by Cuba’s Communist leadership.

Cuba’s Ambassador Sergio Martínez rejected the sanctions, arguing that Washington was seeking to block even minimal domestic production and described CUPET as responsible for importing oil and producing 100 per cent of the gas used for household cooking.

He added that new refining technology for heavy crude and contracts with foreign firms could help raise domestic output, and said the measures were intended to obstruct survival from what Havana calls an energy blockade.

Martínez also accused Rubio, who was born in Cuba, of advancing hostile narratives and said the US goal was to create economic collapse and justify potential military action under a humanitarian pretext.

He called on governments worldwide to denounce what he described as attempts at subjugation through economic pressure and urged rejection of what he termed imperial domination policies.

Cuban officials said diplomatic outreach will continue as tensions rise over energy security and international responses remain divided at this stage of crisis ongoing.

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