The U.S. government's oil blockade on Venezuela has worsened the situation in Cuba, forcing people to survive 22 hours a day without electricity. The information suggests that the crisis is primarily caused by the Cuban government's mismanagement and neglect of its energy system, while the U.S. blockade played a role in exacerbating the already fraught situation.
“The reason are forced to survive 22 hours a day without electricity is not due to an oil ‘blockade’ by the US.
”Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to the press before boarding his plane at Homestead Air Reserve Base on May 21, 2026 Blackouts in Cuba have been common for years because the Cuba government has mismanaged and neglected its energy system, historians and foreign policy experts said. The U.S. government’s oil blockade has worsened the situation.
The U.S. cut off Venezuela’s oil shipments to Cuba and threatened tariffs and sanctions on other countries seeking to send fuel or do business with the island. In a Spanish video message to the people of Cuba, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he wanted to share"the truth" about their suffering and what the U.S. government could do to help.
"The reason you are forced to survive 22 hours a day without electricity is not due to an oil ‘blockade’ by the U.S.," Rubio saidon May 20 — Cuba’s Independence Day and also the day the U.S. charged former Cuban president Raúl Castro in the 1996 Brothers to the Rescue plane shootdown. "As you know, better than anyone, you have been suffering from blackouts for years," he said.
"The real reason you don’t have electricity, fuel or food is because those who control your country have plundered billions of dollars, but nothing has been used to help the people. " Since the U.S. government’s January capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, the U.S. has ended oil shipments from Venezuela to Cuba, previously the island's main supplier. CubaCuba’s economic and energy crises are decades in the making, with the government’s centralized control and longstanding mismanagement making rolling blackouts common.
However, Cuban historians and foreign policy experts said the U.S. is playing a role in the current crisis and its embargo is exacerbating an already fraught situation.
"The length of the blackouts has gotten worse since the oil embargo was in place, so that is clearly, unquestionably, a major part of the problem," said William LeoGrande, an American University specialist in Latin American politics. "To claim blackouts are solely the government's fault is simply disingenuous. "that said Cuba had"major blackouts last year, and they were still getting free Venezuelan oil. They haven't spent a penny in fixing their energy production, their electrical grid.
They don't spend any money on that stuff. They pocket it.
"Cuba’s blackouts largely started in the early 1990s when the country lost support from the Soviet Union after its collapse, said Theodore Henken, a Baruch College sociologist and anthropologist who studies Cuba.in the early and mid-2000s when then-Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez began subsidizing oil shipments to Cuba. As Venezuela’s economy worsened in the 2010s, the country reduced its oil shipments to Cuba. By 2023, the shipments could not fully power the Cuban grid.
Lillian Guerra, a University of Florida Cuban and Caribbean history professor who’s experienced several blackouts when visiting the country, said in 2025 blackouts started happening more frequently and lasting longer. Experts said Cuba’s blackouts are primarily caused by a collapsed electric grid that needs upgrades and repairs.
"So, while the U.S. oil blockade certainly aggravated this situation, it did not create it," Henken said. Cuba’s government in recent years prioritized building hotels, he said, which has"starved the country of funds for basic maintenance.
" The country’s electric grid requires 110,000 barrels of oil a day and can produce 40,000 per day, El País reported. Cuba's government relied on the oil shipments from Venezuela and didn't provide for alternatives, Bert Hoffmann, a Latin America expert at the German Institute of Global and Area Studies, told PolitiFact. Hoffman said the country only began to seriously install solar capacity three years ago. Has the U.S. oil embargo contributed to the crisis?
"While there have been frequent blackouts in the past, they now are on a very different scale," Hoffmann said. They generally weren’t for 22 hours a day, he said.
"The blackouts have gotten much worse since January," said LeoGrande, from American University. "Cuban officials have said that they are searching for someone to sell them oil but no one will because of the threat of U.S. sanctions. "that threatened tariffs on any nation that directly or indirectly supplied oil to Cuba. That forced Mexico, Cuba’s other major oil supplier, to halt shipments to the island.
Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum has repeatedly said she would supply Cuba with oil as humanitarian aid, but can’t because of the U.S.’ serious economic threats, Hoffman said.for the first time since 2015. The U.S. has so far allowed only one oil vessel — the Russian Anatoly Kolodkin in late March — to reach Cuba.authorizing sanctions on any foreign company or person who provides financial, material or technological support to the Cuban government, affecting nearly all sectors of Cuba’s economy.
United Nations human rights experts have characterized this move as"Rubio said,"The reason are forced to survive 22 hours a day without electricity is not due to an oil ‘blockade’ by the U.S." Experts say the Cuban government mismanaged the country’s electric system and failed to invest in infrastructure or diversify its energy sources. But the U.S. government’s oil embargo, along with its threats of tariffs and sanctions to any country that sends fuel or does business with Cuba, has exacerbated the problem.
Rubio says the Cuban government is to blame, but both governments are contributing to the problem. We rate his statement Half True.
IMPOSING SANCTIONS ON THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR REPRESSION IN CUBA AND FOR THREATS TO UNITED STATES NATIONAL SECURITY AND FOREIGN POLICY As the US starves it of oil, Cuba is pulling off one of the fastest solar revolutions on the planet — with China’s helpPhone interview, Lilian Guerra, Professor, Cuban and Caribbean History, May 21, 2026 Email interview, Bert Hoffmann, a Latin America expert at the German Institute of Global and Area Studies, May 21, 2026 Email interview, Theodore Henken, a Baruch College sociologist and anthropologist who studies Cuba, May 21, 2026 Email interview, William LeoGrande, a government professor and specialist in Latin American politics at American University, May 21 and May 22, 2026
” Imagen muestra que “950 inmigrantes derrumbaron el muro fronterizo entre México y Estados Unidos intentando ingresar a Estados Unidos” en abril 2026.
“Tras el atentado a Trump”, en la cena de corresponsales de la Casa Blanca el 25 de abril, “Irán lanza un mensaje fuerte: ‘no le crean nada, miente’”. “Newly released FOIA door logs show that former President Joe Biden didn't enter the Oval Office once after the 2024 election. ” El líder de Corea del Norte Kim Jong Un dijo que “ningún Dios podrá proteger a Estados Unidos de nuestras nuevas armas”.
"BREAKING: So the Israeli media reports Itamar Ben‑Gvir died in a 'car crash,' while in fact he’s been obliterated by an Iranian missile strike on his home. " ” "There's been numerous other occasions over the years” when the federal government created a reserve similar to a new $1.776 billion anti-weaponization settlement fund.
“Today, there are more children sleeping in New York City’s homeless shelters than there are seats in Yankee Stadium. ”
Cuba Energy Crisis U.S. Oil Blockade Government Mismanagement Negent Of Its Energy System
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Former Cuban President Raul Castro waves Cuban flag during speechA photograph of Raul Castro, the former Cuban president, looking at the Cuban flag during his speech at an event celebrating the 65th anniversary of the triumph of the revolution in Santiago, Cuba.
Read more »
Trump's Cuba strategy echoes his Venezuela playbook. But there are key differencesThe Trump administration’s strategy against Cuba is looking a lot like the playbook for Venezuela.
Read more »
Trump’s Cuba strategy echoes his Venezuela playbook. But there are key differencesTrump’s strategy against Cuba mirrors the playbook used for Venezuela.
Read more »
Trump's Cuba strategy echoes his Venezuela playbook with key differencesThe Trump administration's strategy against Cuba is looking a lot like the playbook for Venezuela: An oil blockade, a growing U.S. military presence, federal ch
Read more »