May 06 (V7N) - Cuba on Tuesday accused US Secretary of State Marco Rubio of lying after he denied Washington was enforcing an oil blockade on the island.  

Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez wrote on X that Rubio “has simply chosen to lie” and “contradicts the President and the White House Spokesperson.” His remarks came after Rubio, guest-hosting the daily White House press briefing, insisted: “There’s no oil blockade on Cuba, per se.”  

Rubio argued that Cuba’s energy crisis stemmed from Venezuela’s decision to stop providing free oil, claiming Havana resold much of the supply for cash rather than using it to benefit its people. “The only blockade that’s happened is the Cubans have decided, I mean, the Venezuelans have decided we’re not giving you free oil anymore,” he said.  

Cuba has faced severe energy shortages since January, when US forces seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Washington threatened tariffs on countries sending crude to Havana. Rodriguez also denounced new sanctions against Cuba’s energy sector announced by President Donald Trump on May 1, saying they were causing “harm and suffering” to the Cuban people.  

So far, Washington has permitted only one Russian oil tanker to dock in Cuba at the end of March, which Trump described as a one-off shipment.  

END/WD/RH