US Renews $100 Million Offer to Cuba for Cooperation

The United States renewed a $100 million aid offer to Cuba on Wednesday, escalating pressure on Havana to cooperate as the island nation grapples with a severe economic crisis marked by prolonged power outages. This comes after Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated last week in Rome that Cuba had rejected a similar offer, a claim denied by the communist government in Havana.

The U.S. State Department stated that Havana "refuses to allow the United States to provide this assistance to the Cuban people who are in dire need of it due to the failures of the corrupt regime in Cuba." It added that "the decision is up to the Cuban regime to accept our offer of assistance or reject the (life-saving) aid and, ultimately, it will be responsible to the Cuban people for blocking its access."

Energy Crisis Worsens

Energy supplies in Cuba have hit new record lows, according to data compiled by AFP, with prolonged blackouts and a record shortfall in power generation in recent days. Data shows that 65% of Cuban territory experienced simultaneous power outages on Tuesday.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel directly blamed the United States for this on Wednesday. He wrote on X: "This worsening deterioration has one cause: the energy blockade imposed by the United States on our country, threatening to impose illogical tariffs on any country that supplies us with fuel."

Mounting US Pressure

Cuba has been suffering an energy crisis since January, when US forces captured Venezuelan President and Cuban ally Nicolas Maduro, and Washington threatened to impose tariffs on countries sending crude oil to the communist island. To date, Washington has only allowed one Russian oil tanker to arrive at the end of March, which, according to Trump, was a one-time shipment.

The renewal of the US offer follows the imposition of new sanctions on key parts of the state-controlled Cuban economy, further pressuring Havana amid its deepening economic crisis.