Trump tells Cuba to ‘make a deal, before it is too late’

Donald Trump has urged Cuba to “make a deal” or face consequences, warning that the flow of Venezuelan oil and money would now stop.

The US president has been turning his attention to Cuba since US forces seized Venezuela’s leader Nicolás Maduro in a January 3 raid on its capital, Caracas.

Venezuela, a long-standing ally of Cuba, is believed to send around 35 000 barrels of oil a day to the island.

Cuba’s foreign minister responded by saying his nation retained the right to import fuel “without interference”, while its president said: “No one dictates what we do.”

The Trump administration’s tactic of confiscating sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers has already begun to worsen a fuel and electricity crisis in Cuba.

On Friday, it seized a fifth oil tanker it said was carrying sanctioned oil from Venezuela.

“Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of OIL and MONEY from Venezuela. In return, Cuba provided ‘Security Services’ for the last two Venezuelan dictators, BUT NOT ANYMORE!” Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday.

“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO! I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.”

Trump did not specify the terms of a deal or the consequences Cuba could face.

But Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said the Caribbean island nation had “the absolute right to import fuel” from any willing exporter “without interference or subordination to the unilateral coercive measures of the United States”.

He added that, unlike the US, Cuba does not lend itself to “blackmail or military coercion against other states”.

Trump also referenced the raid to seize Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who are now facing drug trafficking and other charges in the US. (BBC)