Overview
- Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez accused U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio of lying after Rubio said Tuesday there is no oil blockade on Cuba.
- Rubio argued the supply drop stems from Venezuela no longer sending Cuba free oil, rejecting claims of U.S. interdiction at sea.
- Rodríguez cited a Jan. 29 order threatening tariffs on countries that export fuel to Cuba and a May 1 move adding secondary energy sanctions that he says scare off suppliers.
- Cuban authorities report that only one major shipment has arrived in recent months, a late‑March delivery of about 100,000 tons by the Russian tanker Anatoly Kolodkin.
- Cuban officials also condemned recent U.S. talk of possible military action as dangerous, while new blackouts returned this week as fuel from the lone Russian shipment ran short.