The Cuban regime once again pointed to Washington as responsible for its logistical problems. This Friday, Reinier Lores Riveron, director of ASEGEM (Wholesale Trade Assurance Company for Food Products and Other Consumer Goods), declared that Trump's second executive order is the direct cause of the delay in the unloading and distribution of rice donated by China at the port of Havana.
ASEGEM is the entity of the Ministry of Internal Trade (MINCIN) responsible for ensuring logistics and transportation for the supply of products in the country.
According to Lores Riveron, the ship with the cargo began unloading operations on May 18 and was supposed to complete them in 10 days, a deadline that has not been met.
"The planned extraction rates could not be achieved due to the existing situation with fuel limitations caused by the signing of the second executive order by the United States government, which restricts fuel imports into the country," stated the official.
The director of ASEGEM added that "there has been instability in the traction, there have been disruptions, the planned amount of transportation means could not be utilized, and this has resulted in the inability to meet the unloading hotel and the scheduled production plans."
The shipment in question is part of the second delivery of the 15,000 tons of rice donated by China that arrived at the Haiphong terminal of the Port of Havana on May 23.
This is the second landing of the 60,000 tons package approved in January 2026 by Chinese President Xi Jinping, as part of an emergency aid that also included 80 million dollars for electrical equipment.
In addition to an initial commitment of 30,000 tons, the total amount of rice pledged by China amounts to 90,000 tons.
The accusation from ASEGEM fits into a pattern that the regime is increasingly repeating. Just one day prior, the regime blamed Trump for the crisis in water, transportation, and electricity during the Mesa Redonda program, where the general director of the Electric Union described the impact of the executive orders on electricity generation as "devastating."
Washington has systematically rejected this narrative. Secretary of State Marco Rubio noted that Venezuela used to give away oil to Cuba, of which the regime sold 60% without benefiting the population, and directly pointed to GAESA —the military conglomerate that controls between 40% and 70% of the Cuban economy— as the underlying structural problem.
"The country has been taken over by a company that controls 70% of the economy. None of that money goes toward helping the Cuban people, absolutely nothing," Rubio stated last Wednesday.
The second executive order signed by Trump on May 1, 2026 expanded sanctions against the Cuban energy, defense, mining, and financial sectors, and added to Executive Order 14380 of January 29, which established secondary sanctions against those who supplied oil to Cuba.
The deadline set by the State Department for foreign companies to cease operations with GAESA is on June 5, 2026, which could further intensify the pressure on logistics and supply on the island.
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