Cuba says airlines can no longer refuel as Trump turns up the pressure
Aerial view of Jose Marti International Airport in Havana taken from an airplane on April 3, 2025.
Yamil Lage | Afp | Getty Images
Cuban government says international airlines can no longer refuel there due to fuel shortages after US President Donald Trump tariffs under threat in any country that supplies oil to the communist country.
Cuba will run out of aviation fuel starting Monday, possibly disrupting operations of airlines operating there, the island nation’s leadership said Sunday. According to EFE news agencyquoting two sources.
The kerosene shortage is expected to continue next month and all Cuba’s international airports are expected to be affected.
The Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Cuban Embassy in London did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
In an executive order issued at the end of January, Trump said the Cuban government posed an “unusual and extraordinary threat” requiring a declaration of a national emergency.
The US president said Cuba’s ties to countries such as China, Russia and Iran, human rights abuses and communist leadership were destabilizing the region “through migration and violence.”
As part of the announcement, Trump said U.S. tariffs could directly or indirectly target countries that supply oil to Cuba.
The Trump administration has been trying to tighten U.S. pressure on Cuba since Jan. 3, when it launched a daring military operation to oust Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a longtime ally of the Cuban government.
Pedestrians walk past the Habana Libre Hotel, formerly the Havana Hilton, in Havana on February 2, 2026. Tourism in Cuba experienced a sharp decline in 2025.
Yamil Lage | Afp | Getty Images
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla in question The country’s leadership condemned Washington’s tariff threats “in the strongest possible terms.”
In a statement released on January 30, Parrilla accused the US government of resorting to “blackmail and pressure to involve other countries in the universally condemned blockade policy against Cuba.”
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum in question He added last week that his government aims to send humanitarian aid to Cuba starting Monday and that the country is trying to find a diplomatic solution to restart oil shipments to the Caribbean island.
Mexico had previously stopped shipping crude and refined products to Cuba due to pressure from the Trump administration.
