Cuba’s Fuel Crisis Deepens as Diaz-Canel Rejects U.S. Aid Offer

(MENAFN) Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel stated on Thursday that removing Washington’s energy “blockade” would be a much more “straightforward” solution to assist the country than the $100 million aid package proposed by the United States, as Cuba endures its most severe fuel shortage in decades.

In a post on the U.S.-based social media platform X, Díaz-Canel wrote that “The damage could be alleviated in a much easier and more expedient way by lifting or easing the blockade, since it is well known that the humanitarian situation is coldly calculated and induced,” He further argued that Washington would not encounter Cuban ingratitude, “however inconsistent and paradoxical the offer may seem to a people that the Unites States government itself punishes collectively in a systematic and ruthless manner.”

On Wednesday, Cuba announced it had entirely depleted its reserves of fuel oil and diesel, warning that the national power system is in a severe and fragile condition with no backup supplies remaining.

These remarks followed a renewed offer from the U.S. State Department a day earlier, which proposed $100 million in direct humanitarian aid for Cubans, while simultaneously calling for political reforms and criticizing the island’s communist leadership in Havana.

The situation comes amid a broader energy crisis in Cuba, worsened by a U.S. oil embargo imposed on January 30, alongside frequent and extensive electricity blackouts across the country.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly asserted that Cuba is “next” following military actions against Iran, and has predicted that the Caribbean nation will collapse “soon.”

MENAFN15052026000045017167ID1111119902