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The Cuban regime once again pointed to Washington as responsible for its logistical problems. This Friday, Reinier Lores Riveron, director of ASEGEM (Wholesale Food and Other Consumer Goods Assurance Company), stated 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 Domestic Trade (MINCIN) responsible for ensuring logistics and transportation for the supply of products in the country.
According to Lores Riveron, the vessel 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 extraction has not been achieved at the planned rates due to the existing situation with fuel limitations arising from the signing of the second executive order by the United States government, which restricts the entry of fuel into the country," the official stated.
The director of ASEGEM added that "there has been instability in the traction, there have been impacts, the expected amount of transport means could not be utilized, and this has resulted in an inability to meet the unloading hotel and the planned production schedules."
The shipment in question is part of the second consignment 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 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 committed by China amounts to 90,000 tons.
The accusation from ASEGEM fits into a pattern that the regime is increasingly repeating. Just one day earlier, the regime blamed Trump for the crisis in water, transportation, and electricity on the program Mesa Redonda, 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 pointed out that Venezuela used to gift oil to Cuba, of which the regime resold 60% without benefiting the population, and he 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 to help the Cuban people, absolutely nothing," Rubio declared last Wednesday.
The second executive order signed by Trump on May 1, 2026 expanded sanctions on the Cuban energy, defense, mining, and finance sectors, and added to Executive Order 14380 from January 29, which imposed secondary sanctions on those supplying oil to Cuba.
The deadline set by the Department of State for foreign companies to cease operations with GAESA is on June 5, 2026, which could further intensify pressure on logistics and supply in the island.
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