U.S. Allows Licensed Resale of Venezuelan Oil to Cuba’s Private Sector

The U.S. Treasury said Wednesday that it will authorize companies to seek licenses to resell Venezuelan oil to Cuba for “commercial and humanitarian use,” a partial easing of the oil squeeze the United States has applied to the island, according to Reuters and Al Jazeera.

Reuters reported that the guidance, posted on the Treasury website, requires that transactions support the Cuban people, including the private sector, and does not cover transactions involving or benefiting the Cuban military or other government institutions. Al Jazeera likewise reported that the policy excludes entities linked to Cuba’s military and government institutions.

The change follows weeks of shortages. Venezuela was Cuba’s main supplier of crude and fuel for more than 25 years, Reuters and Al Jazeera reported, but shipments stopped after the United States captured President Nicolas Maduro in January and took control of Venezuela’s oil exports. Mexico, which had become an alternate supplier, has also halted shipments, both outlets reported. Reuters said a vessel that loaded Venezuelan fuel in early February was still waiting in Venezuelan waters for authorization to sail, and Al Jazeera cited Reuters to the same effect.

It is unclear whether the move will help. Reuters noted that Cuba may struggle to pay, since purchases would likely require regular commercial terms such as bank guarantees and cash payments, and that Cuba’s state companies control fuel distribution and power supply. Al Jazeera reported that it is not known whether Havana can keep buying Venezuelan oil at the heavily subsidized rates it once paid.

Caribbean leaders have voiced alarm. At a meeting of the regional bloc CARICOM in Saint Kitts and Nevis, Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said, “Humanitarian suffering serves no one,” Reuters and Al Jazeera reported. Host Prime Minister Terrance Drew said, “A destabilized Cuba will destabilize all of us,” according to Reuters, and Al Jazeera likewise reported that he warned a destabilized Cuba would destabilize the region. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was at the meeting, Reuters reported.

Separately, Cuba’s Interior Ministry said Wednesday that its forces killed four people and wounded six after a speedboat with a Florida registration approached its coast, CBS News, Politico and Al Jazeera reported. Cuba said the occupants were attempting an infiltration, a claim the United States has not confirmed, CBS reported. Rubio said the United States was working to determine whether those aboard were U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents, according to CBS; Politico reported that he said they were not U.S. government personnel and called the episode “highly unusual.” Those two accounts of Rubio’s remarks each come from a single outlet.