Overview
- Venezuela’s crude lifeline effectively ended after the capture of Nicolás Maduro, and President Trump’s Jan. 29 order designating Cuba an “extraordinary threat” has discouraged third‑party deliveries, with Mexican shipments reportedly halted according to Cato.
- Cuban authorities warned that jet fuel would be unavailable at international airports for at least a month, prompting airlines to restrict or suspend service, hotels to relocate guests, and several governments to issue travel advisories as embassies prepare contingency plans.
- Rolling power cuts, rationing, and curtailed transport have pushed remote work and shuttered campuses, while surveys report severe shortages of food and medicines, including an OCDH finding that most families live in extreme poverty.
- United Nations human rights experts condemned the latest U.S. restrictions on oil imports as an extreme form of unilateral economic coercion, even as Havana casts hardship as the result of a U.S. “blockade.”
- Analysts diverge on what comes next: Foreign Policy argues the ruling system is built to survive a prolonged managed decline, whereas Cato warns of potential fuel exhaustion by late March and the risk of collapse.