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Vanguard Energy, a petroleum trading company based in Coral Gables, Florida, suspended its plans to send 250,000 barrels of fuel to Cuba on a tanker, which would have represented the largest shipment of American fuel to the island since the Eisenhower administration in 1960.
The company's president, Matthew Klann, attributed the decision to "operational limitations" in Cuba caused by recent actions of the Washington government against Cuban state entities, particularly the federal sanctions against CUPET (Cuba-Petroleum Union), the island's state-owned oil company.
"The recent U.S. government actions affecting Cuban state entities have created operational restrictions beyond Vanguard's control, now impacting the ability to structure any future fuel delivery by tanker trucks," Klann stated in a statement released on Friday.
The sanctions against CUPET were announced on Wednesday by Secretary of State Marco Rubio under Executive Order 14404 issued by President Donald Trump, which blocks the assets of the oil company under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibits any transactions with it. CUPET thus became the second major Cuban state-owned enterprise sanctioned under that executive order, following the military conglomerate GAESA, which was sanctioned in May.
The sanction removed the possibility for Vanguard to use CUPET's storage infrastructure, a key component of the project. The company had leased storage tanks in Cuba from a government-related entity to distribute fuel to humanitarian groups, embassies, and clients in the non-state private sector, with shipments scheduled on a monthly basis or every 40 days.
The case also had local repercussions. The tax collector of Miami-Dade, Dariel Fernández, revoked the business license of Vanguard Energy on Thursday upon learning of the agreement with CUPET.
"Miami-Dade County will not serve as a base of operations for activities that undermine federal law or support the Cuban dictatorship," Fernández stated. According to Bloomberg Línea, the commercial tax receipt was reinstated the following day.
Vanguard stated that it has not conducted any unauthorized shipments, payments, or transactions related to Cuba, nor has it violated any sanctions, export controls, or U.S. trade regulations.
The company had been operating since early 2026 with small shipments in iso tanks—steel cylinders mounted within maritime containers—before announcing the ambitious tanker ship plan.
The suspension further exacerbates the energy situation in Cuba, which is experiencing its worst crisis in over six decades.
The country has been operating without fuel reserves since December 2025, supplies from Venezuela were interrupted in January 2026, and Mexico halted its shipments out of fear of U.S. tariffs.
The electricity deficit reached a record of 2,153 MW on May 13, with blackouts of up to 22 hours a day.
The Vanguard case sends a clear signal to other companies in South Florida about the legal and political risks of operating with entities linked to the Cuban regime under the current maximum pressure policy of the Trump administration.
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