Overview
- Diaz-Canel, who met the visiting Democrats on Monday, called the U.S. energy squeeze “criminal” and said he is ready for serious bilateral dialogue.
- Representatives Pramila Jayapal and Jonathan Jackson stressed the trip was oversight rather than negotiations and said they will file a report and pursue sanctions relief.
- The lawmakers reported blackouts have put premature babies in incubators at risk and have disrupted hospitals, schools, and drinking water service.
- Reporting ties the shortages to Trump’s January restrictions that curbed oil flows, though a Russian tanker, the Anatoly Kolodkin, recently brought fuel that Jackson said he was glad was not blocked.
- Cuban officials told the delegation they invited the FBI to help investigate a recent attack from a U.S. vessel off Cuba’s coast that left five detainees and five people dead.