The U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, held the Cuban regime responsible on Tuesday for the humanitarian crisis affecting the island, stating that the energy deterioration is due both to the end of the free supply of Venezuelan oil and to years of underinvestment in the electrical system.
Rubio made the statements during a press conference in Barranquilla, Colombia, where he met with President Abelardo De La Espriella, in response to a question about the United Nations' warnings regarding the impact of fuel and electricity shortages in Cuba. The State Department shared his response in a video.
"The main reason Cuba is facing an energy crisis is that Venezuela no longer gives away its oil," stated the head of U.S. diplomacy.
According to Rubio, for years Havana received Venezuelan crude oil for free, using about 30% to meet its internal needs and selling the rest to generate income. This scheme was interrupted following the capture of Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces in January 2026.
The Secretary of State noted, however, that Cuba's energy problems predate the end of those supplies and reminded that the island was already suffering from widespread blackouts due to the deterioration of its infrastructure.
In his opinion, the Cuban regime "did not invest a cent" in modernizing the electrical grid despite having access to oil from Venezuela for years.
Rubio was particularly critical in attributing the humanitarian emergency to the political and economic model of the island.
"If Cuba is a humanitarian disaster, it is because its government, its regime, is a disaster. Because the economic model they follow does not work. In fact, it makes no sense, because they do not allow the private sector to thrive, because they do not allow Cubans to choose their own path in life individually," he expressed.
He also rejected the idea that the situation can be explained solely by external factors and recalled the U.S. offer of 100 million dollars in humanitarian aid for Cubans.
"Cuba is a humanitarian disaster, and we have offered $100 million in humanitarian aid; others have done the same. No one is preventing that aid from entering," he stated.
The U.S. initiative involves 60 million dollars channeled through the Catholic Church and an additional 40 million through independent non-governmental organizations, with the intention of preventing the regime from controlling the distribution. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez previously denied having received this offer and described it as a "tale."
The Secretary of State also accused the Cuban authorities of allocating resources to other priorities instead of modernizing the country's infrastructure.
"They stole all the money meant for building hotels to line their own pockets, and because they are no longer stealing oil from Venezuela for free," he stated.
The statements delve into the recent public confrontation between Washington and Havana regarding the causes of the energy crisis. A few days ago, Bruno Rodríguez accused Rubio of lying and denied that Venezuela was giving oil to Cuba, arguing that the shipments were part of trade exchanges for services provided by the island.
Rubio, for his part, had noted on September 2 that blackouts in Cuba have been occurring for between five and seven years, to argue that the electrical crisis is structural and not solely a result of the interruption of Venezuelan supplies.
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