Cuban official accuses US of ‘piracy’ against sanctioned Caribbean island

A Cuban diplomat has accused the United States (US) of “international piracy”, as Washington continues to block Venezuelan oil from reaching the Caribbean island following the US military attack on the nation and abduction of president Nicolás Maduro.

Carlos de Cespedes, Cuba’s ambassador to Colombia, told Al Jazeera on Saturday that the US is imposing a “marine siege” on the country.

“Cuba is facing more powerful US threats than it has in the 67 years since the revolution,” de Cespedes said, referring to decades of punishing sanctions and military threats.

“The US is carrying out international piracy in the Caribbean Sea that is restricting and blocking the arrival of oil to Cuba.”

Since US forces abducted Venezuela’s Maduro earlier this month, the flow of oil from the country to Cuba has all but come to a halt.

Venezuela has been the main oil supplier to Cuba in recent decades.

US president Donald Trump said earlier this month that there would be “zero” Venezuelan oil headed to Cuba now that Washington is exerting its influence over Caracas under the threat of further military strikes.

The US has also been intercepting and seizing Venezuelan oil tankers in the Caribbean – a move that critics say amounts to piracy.

“Cuba is ready to fall,” Trump projected on 5 January. “Cuba now has no income. They got all of their income from Venezuela, from Venezuelan oil. They’re not getting any of it. Cuba literally is ready to fall.”

However, Cuba has continued to import oil from other sources, including Mexico.
But without Venezuelan oil, Cuba’s already struggling economy could approach a breaking point.

Politico reported last week that the Trump administration is considering imposing a complete energy blockade on the island – a move that could lead to a humanitarian crisis in the country of 11 million people.

Cuba had close trade and security relations with Maduro’s government.

Nearly 50 Cuban soldiers were killed during the US abduction of the Venezuelan leader.

Washington has had hostile relations with Havana since the rise of former president Fidel Castro after the communist revolution that overthrew US-backed leader Fulgencio Batista in 1959.

The Trump administration boasts several anti-Cuban government hawks, including secretary of state Marco Rubio, who is of Cuban descent.

A recent US National Security Strategy highlighted that Washington is shifting its foreign policy resources to the Western Hemisphere to dominate the Americas, harking back to the era of president Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.

Trump invoked the Monroe Doctrine after the military attack earlier this month. It essentially urges the division of the world into spheres of influence overseen by different powers.

President James Monroe first spoke of the doctrine on 2 December 1823, during his seventh annual state of the union address to Congress, although the doctrine was not named after him until decades later.

He warned European powers not to interfere in the affairs of the Americas, stressing that any action of that sort would be viewed as an attack on the US.
But de Cespedes said the US pressure “will not change anything”.

“It will not subjugate us or break our determination even if a single drop of oil doesn’t reach us,” he said.

“As we learnt from the thoughts of the anti-imperialist leader of our revolution, Fidel Castro, we do not fear the US. We do not accept to be threatened or terrorised. Those seeking peace must be ready to defend it.”

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