Cuba is facing an intensifying energy crisis as U.S. actions aimed at curbing oil shipments to the island disrupt supplies from key partners, exacerbating fuel shortages and prolonging nationwide power outages.
The measures have increased uncertainty over future deliveries from Mexico, now Cuba’s largest remaining supplier, following the suspension of shipments from Venezuela.
Cuba has minimal domestic energy production and relies heavily on imported fuel. Venezuelan oil deliveries, which for years formed the backbone of the island’s energy system, have been halted, while Mexican exports are under review after warnings from Washington.
The shortages have affected electricity generation, transportation and essential services, including hospitals and food storage.
Havana has condemned the U.S. move as economic coercion.
Cuban officials say Washington is using the threat of tariffs against oil-supplying countries to further isolate the island and tighten pressure on its economy. Diplomatic sources in Havana described the policy as an attempt to choke off remaining energy lifelines.
According to Dr Paola Andrea Baroni, an international relations scholar at Universidad Siglo in Córdoba, Cuba’s current predicament fits a long-standing pattern.
She notes that the country has lived under U.S. embargo conditions since the early 1960s and has repeatedly adapted by building relationships with partners such as China, Russia and Iran. The present round of pressure, she says, is focused on oil precisely because Cuba is almost entirely dependent on imported energy.
Baroni argues that while the stated objective may be to encourage political change expected to align with U.S. interests. She adds that regional governments have begun advising their citizens against travel to Cuba and are preparing contingency plans for diplomatic staff, reflecting growing concern about instability.
Colombian-Spanish writer and academic Gustavo Forero told StratNewsGlobal that the current approach reflects a broader history of U.S. interventionism in the region. Citing past U.S. actions in countries such as Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, Haiti and Panama, he said the pressure on Cuba represents a continuation of longstanding blockade policies.
Donald Trump has publicly questioned Cuba’s ability to withstand the crisis, saying the country is “very close to failing.” Cuban officials interpret such remarks as evidence of a deliberate strategy of economic pressure.
Havana says the latest measures stem from an executive order signed by Trump declaring a national emergency over Cuba and authorising tariffs on countries that supply oil to the island. The order labels Cuba an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security, expanding Washington’s legal authority to impose penalties beyond the existing embargo.
President Miguel Díaz-Canel responded on January 31, accusing Washington of trying to “suffocate” Cuba’s economy under what he called a false pretext. His comments came amid rolling blackouts across the country.
The energy crunch worsened after the loss of Venezuelan supplies.
Cuban authorities claim shipments stopped following a January 3 U.S. military operation in Caracas that resulted in the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, as well as the deaths of Cuban security personnel stationed there.
Washington has since warned other governments against continuing fuel deliveries to Cuba.
With oil from Venezuela curtailed, Mexico has been supplying about 44 per cent of Cuba’s imports, compared with roughly 33 per cent previously from Venezuela and about 10 per cent from Russia, with smaller volumes from Algeria. Mexico is now reassessing its position after Trump warned that shipments must cease.
The standoff builds on a sanctions regime first imposed in 1962 after the 1959 revolution led by Fidel Castro. In November, UN Special Rapporteur Alena Douhan said decades of restrictions have had severe consequences for human rights, citing shortages of food, medicine, electricity and fuel, and rising emigration.
Professor Aparaajita Pandey of Jawaharlal Nehru University told StratNewsGlobal the U.S. is intensifying its engagement in Latin America and the Caribbean to reassert influence in its “proverbial backyard.”
Targeting oil supplies and threatening third-country sanctions marks a clear escalation in U.S.–Cuba tensions and is widely seen as an attempt to engineer regime change, while also risking deeper Cuban alignment with China and Russia, she added.
India is not directly targeted by the U.S. executive order. The measures focus on countries supplying crude oil to Cuba, like Venezuela, with Mexico most exposed.
New Delhi and Havana maintain cordial relations and cooperate in areas such as renewable energy. India’s exports to Cuba are mainly pharmaceuticals, organic chemicals and limited quantities of refined petroleum products.
Cuban officials have expressed interest in expanding cooperation with India in agro-industry, biotechnology, healthcare, information technology, renewable energy, sports and tourism.
