Trump maintained that Cuba has now lost its financial and energy support network, particularly after the cessation of oil and money shipments from Venezuela.
MIAMI.-The president of the United States, Donald Trump, once again focused Washington’s attention on Cuba by describing the Caribbean country as a “failed state” to the press and by stating that his administration is holding talks with senior Cuban government officials to explore a possible agreement.
Trump maintained that Cuba has now lost its financial and energy support network, particularly after the cessation of oil and money shipments from Venezuela, which for decades was Havana’s main energy partner. “They are not receiving money from Venezuela. Mexico is going to stop sending oil“said the president in response to journalists.
The US president stressed that the current situation places Cuba in a critical position, but also in an opportunity to negotiate. “We are dealing with the Cuban leaders at this moment,” he assured, without offering specific details about the scope of those conversations or the terms of an eventual understanding.
In his statements, Trump also expressed his interest in protecting Cubans living in the United States and facilitating their reunion with their families. “Many people fled Cuba, they came on rafts in shark-infested waters. Many would like to return, at least to visit their relatives,” he said, adding that “we are at a very close point.”
This Monday it also emerged that the Secretary of the Interior of the United States, Doug Burgum, defended the strategy of President Donald Trump’s administration on energy policy and its role as an instrument of diplomatic pressure in the region, in an interview with Fox News on the show America Reports. Burgum assured that any pact that the president reaches with Cuba “will be for the benefit of the American people.”
In his statements, the official linked the so-called “energy dominance” with the country’s ability to project international stability and internal prosperity. He explained that the current approach seeks to use American strength in energy as a tool to negotiate with governments considered adversaries, and that this strength also strengthens Washington’s negotiating position.
Burgum accused the Cuban government of having maintained an exchange relationship with Venezuela in which he sent security forces in exchange for oil, and stated that the current administration is applying sanctions more rigorously than previous governments, mentioning Iran, Russia and China as countries that “benefited” from crude oil sales in past administrations.
The statements are inserted in a context of growing tensions between both countries. The Trump administration has intensified economic sanctions and threatened to impose tariffs on countries that supply oil to Cuba, a measure that seeks to further isolate Miguel Díaz-Canel’s government and reduce its energy sources.
