US President Donald Trump on Sunday, January 11, called on Cuba to strike a deal with Washington, saying the island nation would no longer receive oil and financial support from Venezuela, which has been its key ally for decades.
Trump posted the statement on his social network Truth Social.
According to him, Cuba has existed for many years on the back of significant amounts of Venezuelan oil and money, but now these supplies are being cut off. He emphasized that "there will be no more oil or money going to Cuba" and called on Havana to negotiate with the United States "before it is too late."
Trump also said that Cuba had been providing so-called "security services" to the Venezuelan leadership, but, according to him, this is "over." He argues that after the events of last week, Venezuela no longer needs such protection, as the United States will now provide its security.
According to Reuters, Venezuela was the largest supplier of oil to Cuba. After the arrest of dictator Nicolás Maduro, according to the agency, Trump convinced interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez to direct oil supplies to the United States.
The loss of Venezuelan oil could have serious consequences for Cuba. According to the state oil company PDVSA, from January to November last year, Venezuela supplied Cuba with an average of about 27,000 barrels of oil per day, which covered about half of the country's needs.
In court on January 5, Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores had noticeable head injuries. Representatives of the Donald Trump administration told lawmakers that they sustained them by hitting their heads while fleeing from US troops who were trying to arrest them.
ABC News reported, citing sources, that US President Donald Trump has demanded that the current head of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, refuse economic ties with China, Iran, Cuba and russia.
According to him, the US government will export Venezuelan oil. First, the oil in the reserves will be sold. We are talking about about 50 million barrels of oil under sanctions.
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