Trump administration bans Cuban oil company, blasts Castros | Oil and Gas News

The United States has increased sanctions against Cuba, this time targeting the state-owned oil and gas company on the Caribbean island, Union Cuba-Petroleo.

On Thursday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement describing the company as an instrument of Cuba’s “repressive security apparatus”.

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“Even as Cubans suffer from oil shortages and power outages due to decades of underinvestment in critical industries, Cuba’s communist leaders have diverted energy to line their own pockets,” Rubio wrote.

He then criticized the Castro family, whose members ruled Cuba for decades, for profiting from the country’s oil.

“As Cubans wait weeks to fill up their cars and face constant blackouts, the Castro family flies on a private jet, state buses stage fake demonstrations to show off, and the government prioritizes energy conservation in luxury tourist hotels,” Rubio said.

He also said that the assets of Union Cuba-Petroleo were “illegally confiscated from their American owners years ago”, referring to the efforts of the Cuban government in the 1960s to increase oil production.

This effort was in line with the US decision under President Dwight Eisenhower to ban US oil from going to Cuba.

The pressure campaign continues

The sanctions are the latest step under US President Donald Trump to pressure the island’s communist government.

Since January, Trump has led a campaign to block the island’s oil supply, first by removing the ability to export oil from his homeland of Venezuela, and then by threatening to impose tariffs on any country that exports oil to Cuba.

The oil embargo has been combined with broader sanctions that build on decades of economic sanctions the US has imposed on Cuba.

The island relies on imported oil to supply its aging electricity, as well as daily necessities, such as shipping and transportation.

By 2023, the International Energy Agency estimates that Cuba will be able to produce 40 percent of the oil it uses. In the past, the rest came from abroad.

But that trade stopped. Only one Russian oil tanker has reached Cuba since late January.

Thursday’s sanctions are expected to worsen Cuba’s electricity crisis. The sanctions not only freeze any U.S. Union Cuba-Petroleo assets they may own, but also prohibit any entity operating in the U.S. from doing business with the company.

Although blackouts are not uncommon in Cuba, their frequency has increased since the oil shutdown began, including two island-wide blackouts in March alone.

This week, Volker Turk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, warned that the crisis was only beginning bad results for everyday Cubans.

“The oil embargo imposed as of early 2026 and the recent tightening of foreign sanctions, taken together, are hurting the Cuban people, especially the most vulnerable,” Turk said in a statement.

“Children are dying because doctors do not have the necessary medical equipment and medicines.

Trump is showing the military

The Trump administration, however, has criticized the Cuban government for the blackout. He also said that he is ready to go to war in Cuba to force a change of government.

In March, Trump compared his plans for Cuba to the January 3 military coup against Venezuela, which culminated in the kidnapping of the South American country’s president, Nicolas Maduro.

“After we achieve great change in Venezuela, we look forward to great change coming to Cuba in the near future,” Trump said.

“Cuba is in its last period of life as it was. It will have a new life, but it is in its last period of life as it is.”

It is unclear how far the US will go to initiate change in Cuba, however. Officials from both sides have been involved in ongoing talks, with Cuba seeking relief from the oil embargo.

In March, The New York Times reported that the Trump administration planned to remove President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who was the country’s first non-Castro leader since 1959. However, Cuban officials publicly rejected the idea.

Last month, the Trump administration also issued a a case in the US against the former President of Cuba Raul Castro for the downing of a plane for independence in 1996. Diaz-Canel criticized the charges, however, as an attempt to “prove the stupidity of military violence”.

Critics also point to the US military buildup in the Caribbean Sea as a sign that the Trump administration is preparing to take action against Cuba. For example, in May, the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz arrived in the Caribbean.

The two top military leaders also visited the US military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in recent weeks. Last month, it was General Francis Donovan, head of the US Southern Command. This week, it was Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

Wednesday, Hegseth he wrote again on the possibility of a US war, as he warned Cuba not to make a “wrong decision” that “creates a threat that the United States has to deal with”.

The Trump administration has long argued that Cuba represents a security threat to the US.

In a statement on Thursday, Rubio reiterated that the US will continue to impose sanctions on Cuba until a change of government takes place.

“President Trump wants a new future for Cubans with more economic and political freedom and opportunity,” he wrote. “Until then, we will continue to monitor the power of the Communist government to use its electronic commerce to further its corrupt agenda and oppress the Cuban people.”