US President Donald Trump considered this Saturday that Cuba will seek a “deal” with Washington after the announcement of tariffs for countries that supply oil and he trusted that the island “will be free again.”
The Republican gave these statements aboard Air Force One when the press questioned him about the words of the Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum, who warned that cutting off crude oil supplies to Cuba will cause a humanitarian crisis.
“There doesn’t have to be a humanitarian crisis. I think they will probably come to us and want to make a deal. So Cuba will be free again. They will come to us and make a deal,” the president said.
The Republican stressed that Cuba is in “a very bad situation” because “they lived on money and oil from Venezuela, but none of this is coming” since the United States captured to Nicolás Maduro on January 3.
He also added that Sheinbaum was “very good” because, as he said, He asked that Mexico also stop sending crude oil to the island and she agreed.
New US suffocation measure against Cuba
Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to impose tariffs on countries that supply oil to the island.
He The Cuban government described the measure as fascist, which in practice represents an energy asphyxiation for the island.and Sheinbaum announced that Mexico will look for “different alternatives” to support the Cuban people.
Given the threat and the US blockade, several countries have spoken out against the Trump Administration’s measure.
Allied countries such as Venezuela, Mexico, China and Russia have condemned the US measure as a violation of international law, which could trigger a humanitarian crisis on the island.
Catastrophic impact if Cuba does not receive oil
In this scenario, Cuba could face a serious crisis in six or eight weeks if it does not receive more oil or fuelaccording to forecasts by Cuban expert Jorge Piñón, a specialist at the Energy Institute of the University of Texas.
According to the analyst, dedicated to Cuba’s energy situation, it is “very difficult to quantify” the country’s bankruptcy point, after the US announced this Thursday that it would impose tariffs on countries that directly or indirectly sell or supply oil to Cuba.
Cuba will face a serious crisis in a few weeks if it does not receive more oil, says expert
“If in the next 6 to 8 weeks we do not see any deliveries of crude oil or fuels — coming from Venezuela, Mexico, Russia, the United States, or purchased by Cuba with its own resources — then they will face a serious crisis,” he said.
Piñón highlighted the “fundamental” role of diesel in this situation, because according to his calculations it represents around 20% of fuel demand in Cuba.
“The impact would be catastrophic, since diesel is used for the transportation of passengers and goods, railways, agriculture (tractors), industry and as fuel for the water distribution system, as well as distributed generation (generator sets),” he explained.
EFE/OnCuba
