Politics Report: Cuba stops diesel delivery for US embassy in Havana
According to a report, the government of the Caribbean island of Cuba, which is affected by a US oil embargo, will not tolerate the US embassy in Havana feeding its generators with imported diesel during the ongoing energy crisis. The Cuban Foreign Ministry has refused to allow the embassy to import the fuel, writes the Washington Post. The diplomatic mission is "shamelessly" claiming a privilege for itself that the USA is denying the Cuban people, the newspaper quoted from a translated version of the protest letter.
21.03.2026, 09:06
SDA
The approximately ten million inhabitants of the socialist-ruled island state have been suffering for decades from mismanagement, corruption and a trade embargo imposed by the USA. The ongoing economic crisis has brought Cuba to the brink of economic collapse, the infrastructure is dilapidated and the electricity grid is outdated - which is why those who can are arming themselves with generators against recurring power cuts. This obviously includes the staff at the US embassy in the capital Havana.
Crisis has worsened under Trump
Relations between the USA and Cuba have been tense since the revolution under Fidel Castro's leadership in 1959 and have deteriorated further since President Donald Trump took office. Since December, the Republican has largely cut off the island's access to oil by threatening to impose tariffs on suppliers and putting a stop to imports from Cuba's South American sister state Venezuela. However, the authoritarian-ruled country is dependent on oil for its electricity supply.
According to the Washington Post, fuel containers shipped from the USA to Cuba for the US embassy were stopped by the local authorities after arriving at the port of Mariel on Tuesday. The following day, the embassy reported to Washington that it would have to reduce its staff in the coming weeks if the blockade continued. Embassy employees have already been housed in groups instead of individual accommodations and have been encouraged to work from home in order to save energy, the newspaper reported, citing an anonymous source.
