US imposes new sanctions on Cuba’s state oil company, blasts Castros

The United States has levied additional sanctions against Cuba, this time targeting the island’s state-owned oil and gas company, Union Cuba-Petroleo. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement on Thursday describing the company as a tool for Cuba’s repressive security apparatus and accusing the Castro family of diverting energy resources for personal gain while ordinary Cubans suffer fuel shortages and blackouts.

“While the Cuban people have suffered fuel shortages and blackouts because of decades of under-investment in critical infrastructure, Cuba’s Communist leaders have diverted energy resources to line their own pockets,” Rubio wrote. He also claimed that the company’s assets were unlawfully expropriated from American owners years ago, referring to the nationalization of oil production in 1960.

The sanctions are the latest step in President Donald Trump’s campaign to pressure Cuba’s communist government. Since January, Trump has cut off energy exports from Venezuela, threatened tariffs on countries shipping oil to Cuba, and intensified sanctions that build on a decades-long trade embargo. As a result, only one Russian oil tanker has reached Cuba since late January. The International Energy Agency estimates that Cuba produces only 40 percent of the oil it uses; the rest must come from abroad.

Thursday’s sanctions freeze any US-based assets of Union Cuba-Petroleo and bar any entity with US operations from doing business with the company. This is expected to worsen Cuba’s energy crisis, which has already led to more frequent blackouts, including two island-wide outages in March alone.

This week, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk warned that the fuel restrictions and extraterritorial sanctions are directly harming Cubans, especially the most vulnerable. “Children are dying because doctors lack access to essential medical supplies and medicines. This is unacceptable,” he said.

The Trump administration has blamed Cuba’s government for the blackouts and hinted at possible military action. In March, Trump compared his intentions for Cuba to the January 3 military offensive against Venezuela, which culminated in the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. “Cuba’s in its last moments of life as it was,” Trump said.

In March, the administration also filed criminal charges against former Cuban President Raul Castro over the 1996 downing of a civilian plane. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel denounced the charges as an effort to justify military aggression. Critics point to the buildup of US military assets in the Caribbean, including the arrival of the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier and visits by high-ranking military leaders to Guantanamo Bay. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned Cuba not to make a “wrong decision” that could create a threat the United States might have to address.

Rubio reiterated that sanctions would continue until there is a change of government. “President Trump wants a new future for the Cuban people with greater economic and political freedom and opportunity,” he wrote.