Cuba has long relied heavily on oil shipments from Venezuela, but these shipments stopped when the United States attacked the South American country on January 3rd and arrested its president, Nicolás Maduro. «That's a separate issue,» he stated at the same time, confirming a willingness to engage in dialogue. Cuba is facing a severe economic crisis, continuous power outages, and disruptions in oil shipments from Venezuela. According to Cuban authorities, U.S. sanctions have cost the country more than $7.5 billion between March 2024 and February 2025. Carlos Fernández de Cossio, Cuba's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, confirmed that tensions between his country and the United States remain high, despite U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement that his administration has begun talks with Cuban leaders after threatening to impose tariffs on any country supplying oil to Cuba. De Cossio said: «We are not yet in specific negotiations.» Experts warn that the sudden halt of Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba could lead to widespread social unrest and mass migration following the U.S. military attack that resulted in Maduro's arrest. From 2020 to 2024, Cuba's population decreased by 1.4 million people, a trend experts largely attribute to the emigration spurred by the deepening crisis.
