President Donald Trump has declared a national emergency, signing off sweeping tariffs targeting any country that “sells or otherwise provides oil to Cuba”.
The move comes after Cuba’s National Defence Council greenlit “plans and measures” to declare a “state of war” in response to the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro.
A White House statement announcing the measures declared: “Today, President Donald J Trump signed an Executive Order declaring a national emergency and establishing a process to impose tariffs on goods from countries that sell or otherwise provide oil to Cuba.”
It added that the move will help safeguard “US national security and foreign policy from the Cuban regime’s malign actions and policies”.
The statement affirmed that Mr Trump was “taking decisive action” to hold Cuba accountable for its “support of hostile actors, terrorism, and regional instability that endanger American security and foreign policy”.
It continued: “Cuba hosts Russia’s largest overseas signals intelligence facility focused on stealing sensitive national security information from the United States.
“The regime persecutes and tortures political opponents, denies free speech and press, profits corruptly from the Cuban people’s misery.
“These actions constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to US national security and foreign policy, requiring immediate response to protect American citizens and interests.”
Mr Trump has increasingly focused on Cuba since US forces seized Mr Maduro – a close ally of Havana – on January 3, as Washington moves to reassert dominance in the Western Hemisphere.
Just hours after the successful operation in Caracas, Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that Cuba’s communist leadership was “in a lot of trouble”.
Mr Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants who fled the island after Fidel Castro seized power, said on Wednesday that regime change would be a “great benefit” to the US.
In response, Havana has ramped up anti-imperialist rhetoric and intensified military exercises across the country in recent weeks.
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A recent staff meeting at the US Embassy in Havana has laid bare the severity of rising US-Cuba tensions, now at levels unseen since the 1960s.
US Charge d’Affaires Mike Hammer is said to have told American diplomats: “If you don’t have your bag packed yet, then pack your bag,” a source present at the meeting told CNN.
“The Cubans have complained for years about ‘the blockade’, but now there is going to be a real blockade.
“Nothing is getting in. No more oil is coming.”
The Trump administration’s newly announced tariffs have intensified pressure on Mexico, which has emerged as a key supplier of oil to Cuba in recent years.
Venezuela had previously provided Havana with discounted crude, but shipments have ceased entirely since the US military operation.
Just days ago, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum pledged “solidarity” with Cuba after reports that her government had cancelled an oil shipment to Havana.
She said the decision to sell oil to the communist regime was taken for “humanitarian reasons”, insisting it was a “sovereign decision”.
