Trump Threatens Cuba Over Venezuela Oil Cut as Cuba Tightens Ties With Russia and China

Cuba is watching the political fallout from the United States’ aggression against Venezuela, with La Habana noting that since the kidnapping of Nicolás Maduro on 3 de enero no oil tanker has left Venezuela for Cuba.

“Las consecuencias de la agresión estadounidense contra Venezuela se han dejado sentir en todo el mundo, pero si hay un país que sigue con especial atención los convulsos movimientos políticos en Caracas, ese es Cuba”

Diario Público

The Diario Público says the cut has hit the island hard, describing a reliance on Venezuelan crude that has translated into daily power outages for several hours.

Diario Público

Donald Trump warned on Truth Social, writing "¡NO HABRÁ MÁS PETRÓLEO NI DINERO PARA CUBA — CERO! Sugiero encarecidamente que lleguen a un acuerdo, ANTES DE QUE SEA DEMASIADO TARDE", while Miguel Díaz‑Canel told an event in front of the U.S. embassy in La Habana that "Nadie nos dicta qué hacer".

In response to the threats, Diario Público reports that Cuba began “mover ficha” by tightening ties with Russia and China, and it links the shift to a visit to La Habana by Russia’s interior minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev on 21 de enero.

LA7 says Vladimir Putin reaffirmed Moscow’s support for international allies and stated that Russia will always come to the aid of its friends, naming Cuba, Iran, and Venezuela.

The same LA7 piece frames the message as more than diplomatic, adding that Cuba, Iran, and Venezuela have already received significant aid that strengthens economic and military cooperation in strategic areas.

El Mundo

Diario Público reports that Xi Jinping approved an emergency aid round to Cuba, combining financial and food assistance, including 80 millones de dólares in financial assistance for electrical equipment and 60.000 toneladas de arroz.

Diario Público adds that the aid was formally transmitted to Miguel Díaz‑Canel during an encounter on 21 de enero at the Palacio de la Revolución, where the Cuban president received the Chinese ambassador Hua Xin hours after meeting the Russian minister.

The Times of Israel argues that Cuba is central to Trump’s negotiation problem, saying that after U.S. intervention in Venezuela captured Nicolás Maduro, Cuba’s crisis deepened overnight and talks with Washington later stalled.

“The Russian president Vladimir Putin has reaffirmed Moscow's support for its international allies, stating that Russia will always come to the aid of its friends, naming among them Cuba, Iran, and Venezuela”

LA7

It also claims that this week the Trump administration indicted Raúl Castro and that American intelligence reports Iranian military advisors are operating in Havana, while Cuba has acquired over 300 military drones supplied by Iran and Russia.

El Mundo’s interview with Federico Rampini says Rubio is “the main force behind the geopolitical reconfiguration of Latin America” and describes him as “a true expert in foreign policy,” while also portraying Trumpism as seeking order through demonstrations of force.

In the same El Mundo interview, Rampini links Cuba, Venezuela, and Panama to foreign policy outcomes and says Venezuela has behaved as if it were abandoning the Russian-Chinese-Cuban sphere of influence, while adding that Cuba itself could be about to make concessions to Washington.