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By Ellie Cook and Shane Croucher
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A top Cuban official turned U.S. President Donald Trump's latest remarks about the Caribbean island back on American officials who dispute that the country's economic and social problems are caused by the actions of Washington.
"It is frequent for U.S. officials and diplomats to claim that U.S. aggression is not responsible for difficulties in Cuba," deputy foreign minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio wrote on X, responding to a recent clip of Trump speaking to reporters.
Trump, talking aboard Air Force One on Monday, referenced the U.S.'s decades-long block on oil imports into Cuba and the more recent looming threat of tariffs on any nation still supplying oil to the island.
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Havana had been reliant on oil imports from Venezuela but can no longer access them after U.S. forces captured former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in January and moved control over Venezuela's oil supplies to Washington.
- Cuba is Running Out of Fuel—And its People are Struggling
- Cuba Ambassador tells Newsweek what a deal with Trump could look like
Countries like Mexico have also suspended their oil exports to Cuba due to Trump's tariff threats.
“There’s an embargo. There’s no oil. There’s no money. There’s no anything," Trump remarked.
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His administration's squeeze on oil supplies has exacerbated daily woes across the country. Cubans are struggling with reduced school and office hours amid black-outs and fuel shortages.
Last week, Canadian airlines also suspended their flight service to the island after Cuba warned of a jet fuel shortage. That marked a further hit to the Communist island's crucial tourism sector, one of its few most industries bringing in much-needed foreign dollars.
Earlier this month, the top U.S. representative to Cuba, Mike Hammer, had distanced the U.S. from responsibility for Cuba's deepening economic troubles.
Cuba was "already in this situation" before Trump announced his most recent measures, Hammer said during an interview with the Noticias Telemundo outlet.
"The embargo does not restrict food," Hammer said. "The embargo does not restrict medicine."
Hammer said the island's energy infrastructure was "collapsing," crime was surging, and tourism to Cuba had plummeted.
Mexico has sent a humanitarian aid package to Cuba, which included food and hygiene supplies.
The top diplomat in Havana said the U.S. intended to deprive the "repressive" government of resources.
"It seems they don't listen to their President, including the chief diplomat in Havana," Cuba's Fernandez de Cossio said.
Cuba should "absolutely make a deal" with the U.S. "because it's really a humanitarian threat," Trump said on Monday. "We'll see how it all turns out, but Cuba and us, we are talking."
Last week, Cuba's Ambassador to the United Nations, Soberón Guzmán, told Newsweek he saw room for collaboration with the U.S. president on a deal but said the current pressure was intolerable: "Cubans do not like being intimidated."
More Countries Warn Against Travel to Cuba
Update 2/17/2026 at 6:55 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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