President Donald Trump on Sunday issued a warning to the government of Cuba, suggesting that Venezuela’s close ally strike a deal with the US, ramping up pressure following Venezuelan Dictator Nicolas Maduro’s capture.
Since the operation led by US forces in early January, Cuba has been cut off from Venezuelan crude oil as the US government continues to seize tankers in an attempt to control Venezuela’s oil infrastructure, production, and global sales of the nation’s most abundant resource.
“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 in a post on Truth Social on Sunday.
“Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of OIL and MONEY from Venezuela,” President Trump additionally said.
Cuba’s president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, responded on X, stating, “those who turn everything into a business, even human lives, have no moral authority to point the finger at Cuba in any way, absolutely in any way.”
The Cuban government announced that 32 of its military personnel were killed during the American campaign last weekend. Cuba’s personnel from two of its main security agencies were present in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, due to an agreement between both nations.
Following the events, Venezuela and Washington are working on a $2 billion deal to export up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan crude to the U.S, with revenues being placed in U.S. Treasury-supervised accounts.
“Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of OIL and MONEY from Venezuela,” President Trump wrote, acknowledging the significance of Venezuela’s resources on the country.
The Cuban government has stated that U.S sanctions cost the country over $7.5 billion over the course of March 2024 and February 2025.
“It’s going down,” Trump expressed about the country. “It’s going down for the count.”
