Fuel For Everyone, Except Cuba

The Treasury Department extended a waiver Monday allowing countries around the world to receive sanctioned Russian oil already at sea. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed the waiver was intended to “ensure oil reaches the most energy-vulnerable countries.” Cuba was explicitly excluded from the list of countries.

Cuban officials recently said the island had exhausted its remaining fuel oil and diesel reserves following four months of a U.S. oil blockade. As blackouts stretch to 22 hours a day in the capital and the United Nations warns of heightened food insecurity across the country, the Trump administration continues to block desperately needed fuel shipments.

“We have absolutely no fuel, we have absolutely no diesel,” said Cuba’s Minister of Energy and Mines Vincent de la O Levy last week. 

The admission follows a period of unprecedented economic strangulation imposed by the U.S. government.

The only major fuel shipment Cuba has received in recent months came on March 31, when the Russian tanker Anatoly Kolodkin delivered 730,000 barrels of crude oil to the Port of Matanzas, a delivery for which Trump made an exception. 

“It’s not going to have an impact,” Trump said. “Cuba’s finished…whether or not they get a boat of oil, it’s not going to matter.”

The Russian-flagged tanker Universal, carrying 270,000 barrels of desperately needed diesel fuel, is one of the Russian tankers “currently stranded at sea,” roughly 1,000 miles from Cuba.