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Workers from the Unión Cuba-Petróleo (CUPET) gathered this Sunday in mass assemblies to reject the sanctions imposed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury against the Cuban state-owned company, in an event shared by the organization on its official social media.
The images published by CUPET show auditoriums with between 100 and 200 workers gathered under the Cuban flag and the company's corporate flag, in what the organization presented as a collective response to the measures announced last Thursday by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
"The workers of Unión Cuba-Petróleo raise our voices to reject the unjust and arbitrary sanctions recently announced by the U.S. Department of the Treasury against our organization," CUPET stated in its official communiqué.
The company also reaffirmed "the willingness and commitment to serve Cuba with responsibility and discipline, and with the unity and dedication of our work teams as our greatest strength."
The sanctions against CUPET were announced on June 11 under Executive Order 14404 by President Trump, blocking all assets and interests of the oil company under U.S. jurisdiction, as well as prohibiting any transactions with the entity by U.S. individuals or companies.
Rubio accused CUPET of being an instrument of the regime to finance repression and stated that "the regime has stolen and hoarded the available fuel, using it for the private jet of the Castros, the security forces employed to repress the Cuban people, to keep empty tourist hotels lit, and to transport people in buses for fake protests."
The Secretary of State also noted that "the Cuban communist elites have instrumentalized energy as a tool for social control and kleptocratic profit," while the Cuban people suffered blackouts and waited weeks to fill the tanks of their cars.
The sanctions arrived at the worst energy moment for Cuba in decades. The Cuban Minister of Energy, Vicente de la O Levy, admitted in May that the island had "absolutely no fuel or diesel, only associated gas," and the electrical deficit reached a record 2,174 MW on May 14, with blackouts lasting up to 22 hours a day.
The measure also definitively concluded the agreement between the company Vanguard Energy from Coral Gables, Florida, and a Cuban importing agency to send over 250,000 barrels of gasoline and diesel per trip — valued at 34.3 million dollars — which would have been the largest shipment of American fuel to Cuba since the Eisenhower era. Miami-Dade revoked Vanguard Energy's license following the announcement of the sanctions.
The sanction against CUPET is the second significant action under Executive Order 14404 in less than five weeks, following the sanctions against GAESA announced on May 7 by Rubio himself.
Rubio warned that "the Trump Administration will continue to attack Cuba's ability to use energy trade as a means to promote its corrupt agenda and its repressive security apparatus."
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