Russia To Send Oil To Cuba Amid US-Imposed Blockade

Russia is preparing to rush urgently needed oil to Cuba under what officials describe as a “humanitarian” arrangement, according to a report Thursday by the pro-government newspaper Izvestia.

The Russian Embassy in Havana told Izvestia that “as far as we know, Russia is expected to supply oil and petroleum products to Cuba as humanitarian aid in the near future” – amid the island’s worst energy crunch in years.

After decades of already crippling sanctions, President Trump’s latest Executive Order “imposes a new tariff system that allows the United States to impose additional tariffs on imports from any country that directly or indirectly provides oil to Cuba.”

The most devastating move has been to block the ability of the post-Maduro Venezuelan government to send supplies to Cuba. Caracas was Cuba’s chief oil supplier.

Key airlines have stopped flights into Havana’s main international airport for lack of jet fuel. As we reported earlier, Russia is allowing its airlines to temporarily operate outbound flights only.

5,000 Russian tourists remain stranded in Cuba, amid an evacuation overseen by Moscow, according to AFP citing Russia’s Association of Tour Operators.

Earlier this month international reports said Cuba was merely days from running out of fuel, and widescale power outages across various districts of the country have only worsened. 

“The last known delivery came via a tanker from Mexico in early January, but Mexico halted exports amid US pressure,” The Guardian notes. “At the same time, crude flows from Venezuela have dried up after a US operation in January that resulted in the capture of Nicolás Maduro, cutting off support from Cuba’s most trusted energy supplier.”

Havana’s lone primary international airport has seen drastic developments such as the following:

In recent hours, a video has gone viral on social media showing dozens of tourists disembarking from a plane on the tarmac in Moscow after their flight to Cuba was aborted just before takeoff.

The testimonies collected by the Russian outlet Mash on Telegram indicate that passengers on flight SU6849 had almost taken off when, “at the last moment, when the engines were already running, the pilot announced that there was no fuel in Havana,” forcing the flight to be canceled at the last minute.

Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that “the stranglehold imposed by the United States is already causing a lot of difficulties for Cuba” and this has resulted in the two allies discussing “possible ways to resolve these problems or at least provide all possible assistance.”