Trump administration sanctions Cuba’s national oil company, blasts Castros

The United States has levied additional sanctions against Cuba, this time targeting the Caribbean island’s state-owned oil and gas company, Union Cuba-Petroleo.

On Thursday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement describing the company as a tool for Cuba’s “repressive security apparatus”.

“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 then proceeded to denounce the Castro family, whose members governed Cuba for decades, for profiting from the country’s oil.

“As regular Cubans wait for weeks to fill their cars and suffer relentless blackouts, the Castro family flies around on a private jet, the government buses in fake protesters for publicity stunts, and the regime prioritizes keeping the power on in luxury tourist hotels,” Rubio said.

He added that Union Cuba-Petroleo’s assets “were unlawfully expropriated from American owners years ago”, a reference to the Cuban government’s efforts in 1960 to nationalise oil production.

That effort, in turn, was a reaction to a US decision under then-President Dwight Eisenhower to cut off US oil exports to Cuba.

The sanctions are the latest step under US President Donald Trump to apply pressure to the island’s communist government.