The U.S. Secretary of Energy, Chris Wright, stated this Friday that Washington's policy towards Cuba is not aimed at provoking a humanitarian crisis, but rather to pressure for political change on the island and to liberate the Cuban people.
The statements were made in an interview with Kim Strassel for the opinion program of The Wall Street Journal, published this Friday on the WSJ Opinion account on X.
"We do not want a humanitarian crisis. We want to force change and allow the Cuban people to be free," Wright stated.
The official described Cuba as a country that "exports mercenaries to the world, destabilization, and problems," while generating "extreme poverty" at home, and characterized communism as a ruinous economic system.
Wright explained that the U.S. law, passed by Congress, prohibits selling oil, gas, or energy products to the Cuban government, but it does allow sales to individuals and private companies.
"We are ready to sell you oil and gas tomorrow. The law is now for the private sector. Do you want to buy oil, gas, or products in the United States? Here we are," he stated.
As evidence that Washington is not trying to suffocate the population, Wright mentioned that Washington allowed a Russian ship to pass in order to bring energy to Cuba.
This refers to the tanker Anatoly Kolodkin, which arrived at the port of Matanzas on March 30 with approximately 730,000 barrels of crude oil, with authorization from President Donald Trump as a humanitarian exception.
The statements come in the context of a sustained escalation of U.S. pressure on the island. On January 29, Trump signed Executive Order 14380, which designated Cuba a "unusual and extraordinary threat to national security" and imposed tariffs of up to 50% on countries that supply oil to the Cuban government.
Meanwhile, the Departments of the Treasury and Commerce authorized in February the export of fuel to private Cuban entities, explicitly excluding the military conglomerate GAESA, as part of a strategy that aims to strengthen the private sector and economically undermine the regime.
Cuba is experiencing its worst energy crisis in decades, with an obsolete electricity generation system, the repeated collapse of the National Electric System, and power outages in several areas exceeding 20 hours a day.
Wright also drew a parallel with Venezuela and pointed out Cuba's economic potential if it were freed from communism. "It's another economy that could grow rapidly if they simply removed the communist system, the failed communist system. It would be great for Cubans, for America, and for the hemisphere."
The statements coincide with the 65th anniversary of the Playa Girón invasion, a date on which the Díaz-Canel regime issued an official declaration titled "Girón is today and always," in which it responded that "Cuba will never be a trophy, nor a star" of the American constellation.
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