Cubans queue for fuel as Trump issues energy ultimatum

Drivers wait in a long line to enter a gas station in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Cubans queued around the block for fuel Friday, as the island’s Communist government decried U.S. efforts to “suffocate” the already‑stricken economy with a virtual oil blockade.

Hours after U.S. President Donald Trump approved punitive tariffs against countries supplying oil to Cuba, lines formed at stations in the Cuban capital.

“This will directly hit ordinary Cubans sooner or later — that’s clearly the intention,” said Jorge Rodriguez, a 60‑year‑old IT worker, as he waited in line.

“They need to sit and negotiate with Trump,” he told AFP.

Trump’s executive order was denounced by the authorities in Havana as an attempt to throttle an economy already suffering blackouts of up to 20 hours a day.

The decree effectively forces Cuba’s partners to choose whether they want to trade with the world’s largest economy, or with an impoverished island of 11 million people.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said the order was an attempt by Trump a “fascist, criminal and genocidal” US cabal to “suffocate” Cuba.

Cubans already face acute shortages of food, fuel, and medicine -- the country’s most serious economic crisis since the 1991 collapse of its principal benefactor, the Soviet Union.

Until recently, the Cuban economy spluttered by on cheap supplies of Venezuelan oil.

But they have completely dried up since U.S. special forces swooped into Caracas and deposed that country’s leader, Nicolas Maduro, on January 3.

In 2025, Cuba generated only half of the electricity it needed, according to official statistics analyzed by AFP.

Escalation

Trump, his Cuban-American Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and their allies have made no secret about their desire to bring regime change in Havana.

Trump has urged Havana to “make a deal soon” or face unspecified consequences. “NO MORE OIL OR MONEY FOR CUBA: ZERO!” he stated, claiming that Cuba is “ready to fall.”

Several top U.S. officials have close ties to Florida politics, where toppling the regime is an article of faith -- they include Rubio, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and Attorney General Pam Bondi.

“It’s now or never,” said US lawmaker Maria Elvira Salazar, calling for the White House to make a final push to topple Diaz-Canel and the Communist party which has ruled Cuba for seven decades.

Trump’s trade ultimatum also named Cuba as an “extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security, raising the specter of potential military action.

The order alleges that Cuba “aligns itself with -- and provides support for -- numerous hostile countries, transnational terrorist groups, and malign actors adverse to the United States,” including Russia, China, and Iran, as well as the militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.

Since late 2025, the United States has maintained an armada of naval assets in the Caribbean, including warships, fighter jets, and thousands of military personnel.

‘Humanitarian crisis’

Trump’s latest gambit is a particular problem for Mexico, which is both one of the few countries still sending oil to Cuba and highly dependent on U.S. trade.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum warned Friday that sanctions “could trigger a far-reaching humanitarian crisis directly affecting hospitals, food supplies, and other basic services for the Cuban people.”

But Sheinbaum said she had instructed her foreign minister to make contact with the U.S. State Department to seek clarity on Trump’s decree.

While reiterating her “everlasting solidarity” with the Cuban people, the president added, “We don’t want to put our country at risk in terms of tariffs.”

Trade experts say that deliveries of oil from Mexico to Cuba have already slowed in recent months and Sheinbaum has not refuted reports that state oil firm PEMEX plans to halt shipments.

Cuba’s traditional allies have offered rhetorical support, but announced no concrete plans for help.

“China stands firmly against moves that deprive the Cuban people of their rights to subsistence and development and inhumane practices,” said foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun.

Diaz-Canel has said there were no talks with Washington and vowed the Caribbean island’s residents were “ready to defend the homeland to the last drop of blood.”

Jordane Bertrand, AFP