Posted on 05/14/2026 10:15:31 AM PDT by Red Badger
Key Points
Cuban Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy told state media the island nation has run out of fuel oil and diesel.
Protests broke out in Havana on Wednesday as blackouts in the capital continued.
The Trump administration, which has effectively blocked oil shipments to Cuba since January, has offered assistance in exchange for political reform.
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Cuba has run out of oil and diesel, its energy minister said on Wednesday, as an ongoing U.S. blockade starves the island nation of fuel.
“The sum of the different types of fuel: crude oil, fuel oil, of which we have absolutely none; diesel, of which we have absolutely none … the only thing we have is gas from our wells, where production has grown,” Cuban Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy said on state media, according to broadcaster the BBC.
A U.S. blockade has blocked shipments of oil into the country since January, prompting blackouts lasting up to 22 hours a day in parts of the Cuban capital Havana.
De la O Levy said the country’s predicament is “extremely tense.”
According to Reuters news agency, which has reporters on the ground in Havana, protests broke out in the city on Wednesday evening, with hundreds crowding the streets, blocking roads with garbage and shouting “turn on the lights.”
De la O Levy warned Cuba has “no reserves” and that its national grid is in a “critical state,” the Guardian newspaper reported separately.
Cuba had been heavily dependent on oil from Venezuela, but the communist-run Caribbean island has effectively been cut off since early January when the U.S. launched a military operation to remove Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
The Trump administration has called Cuba’s government “an unusual and extraordinary threat”, suggesting the White House could turn its attention to Cuba when the Iran war is concluded.
In a Truth Social post on Tuesday, Trump said talks between the U.S. and Cuba would happen, without giving details on when they might take place.
“Cuba is asking for help, and we are going to talk,” he said ahead of his visit to China.
The U.S. State Department said Wednesday that it was willing to provide $100 million in aid to Cuba, adding that Washington “continues to seek meaningful reforms to Cuba’s communist system.”
“The decision rests with the Cuban regime to accept our offer of assistance or deny critical living-saving aid and ultimately be accountable to the Cuban people for standing in the way of critical assistance,” the statement said.
— CNBC’s Sam Meredith contributed to this report.
I wonder if Cuba came up in our talks with China?
“President Xi, do you care about Cuba?”
“No, not really.”
The good news... You live in Cuba... You don’t need a roof, windows or doors... All you need is a tent.
maybe russia can help them go nuclear
Wow. Thats really too bad. Oh well, moving on….
Also, you needed to bring your own TP if you wanted to use a restroom.
As soon as the communist government leaves the island, the taps will be full again, almost instantly.
Communists argue that communism won't work if it doesn't get help from the capitalist countries that they are sworn to destroy...
Can’t they just bask in the warmth of collectivism?
Drill Cuba, drill.
“The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the
inherent vice of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.”
― Winston Churchill
Nick Shirley(of MN Learing Center fame) did a video of his brief trip to Cuba that he dropped last week.
It is all the fault of the monstrous president we have here in the USA. He is just waiting in the wings, licking his bloody chops, to molest and crucify innocent Cuban children!
(Hey, AP, do I get the reporter job?)
I’m cleaning out my humidors one cigar at a time in anticipation of Cuban cigars returning to the U.S. market.
Sounds like California.
Trump’s fault!
Wait, what is it they did that suddenly raised our wrath to shut them down? At least it is comforting to know it will mean we only have to borrow 100 million to help them once they cry “uncle”.
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