US allows Russian oil tanker to break blockade, travel to Cuba
730,000 barrels of crude oil to be delivered, providing energy lifeline to Caribbean island nation
HOUSTON, United States
The US is allowing a Russian tanker to deliver crude oil to Cuba, breaking a months-long blockade on the Caribbean island nation by the Trump administration, according to a report Sunday by the New York Times.
The tanker, carrying an estimated 730,000 barrels of crude, is expected to dock at the Matanzas terminal by Tuesday, providing a critical supply of energy to Cuba amid escalating tensions with the US.
The Russian ship’s arrival would distribute an energy lifeline to Cuba, buying the island nation at least a few weeks before its fuel reserves run out, according to the Times report.
Officials said it would also reduce pressure on the Cuban government, which is facing a looming economic collapse and escalating threats from the United States and show that Cuba can still depend on its longtime ally Russia at least for the time being.
The Trump administration effectively placed an oil blockade on Cuba in January, threatening nations that had been sending fuel to the country. In one instance, the US escorted an oil tanker heading toward Cuba away from the island.
The US Coast Guard has two cutters in the region that could have attempted to intercept the Russian tanker, according to the report, but the Trump administration did not execute an order to stop the ship.
No explanation has been given as to why the White House did not issue orders to block the tanker or whether it would allow future Russian oil shipments to reach the island country, which is located about 100 miles (161 kilometers) south of Florida.
The decision to allow the tanker to reach Cuba avoids a potential US confrontation with Russia, at least for now.
The US oil blockade has suffocated energy use in Cuba, leading to daily blackouts, severe gas shortages, soaring prices and deteriorating medical care, according to the Times report.
The United Nations has criticized the blockade, blaming the US for causing a humanitarian crisis in Cuba.
The scrutiny comes as the Trump administration has announced that it wants to remove that country's president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, according to the report.
US President Donald Trump said he believed he will "be having the honor of taking Cuba" and suggested that he could target the island with military force after the Iran war.
"I built this great military," Trump said at a Friday news conference. "I said, 'You’ll never have to use it.' But sometimes you have to use it. And Cuba is next, by the way."
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also expressed the White House's desire for new leaders in Cuba.
"Cuba’s economy needs to change, and their economy can’t change unless their system of government changes," he said in a statement.
Cuban officials have stood their ground amid the current blockade, saying the island nation is ready to defend itself.
"Our military is always prepared and, in fact, it is preparing these days for the possibility of military aggression," Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio told NBC News. "We would be naive if, looking at what’s happening around the world, we would not do that. But we truly hope that it doesn’t occur."
