Trump vows to ‘take’ Cuba as island reels from oil embargo

HAVANA/ WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump vowed on March 16 to “take” Cuba as the communist island plunged into darkness under a total power blackout linked to a crippling oil embargo imposed by Washington.

After nearly seven decades defying the United States, Havana’s communist authorities are under massive pressure from a Trump administration determined to make history.

“You know, all my life I’ve been hearing about the United States and Cuba. When will the United States do it?“ Mr Trump told reporters at the White House.

“I do believe I’ll be... having the honour of taking Cuba,” he added.

“Whether I free it, take it – think I could do anything I want with it, you want to know the truth. They’re a very weakened nation right now.”

It was one of Mr Trump’s most explicit threats and came as the Caribbean island of 9.6 million people grappled with yet another major power cut.

The blackout resulted from a “complete shutdown of the national grid”, Union Nacional Electrica de Cuba (UNE) said in a statement, adding that work had begun to restore electricity flow.

Cuba’s ageing electricity generation system is in shambles, with daily power outages of up to 20 hours the norm in parts of the island.

But since the US ouster of Cuba’s top ally Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela on Jan 3, the island’s economy has been hammered further as Mr Trump maintains a de facto oil blockade.

No oil has been imported to the island since Jan 9, hitting the power sector while also forcing airlines to curtail flights to the island, a blow to the all-important tourism sector.

In a bid to relieve economic pressure – and meet US demands – a senior economic official in Cuba announced on March 16 that Cuban exiles would now be able to invest and own businesses there.

“Cuba is open to having a fluid commercial relationship with US companies” and “also with Cubans residing in the United States and their descendants”, Mr Oscar Perez-Oliva, who is foreign trade minister and also deputy prime minister, told NBC News.

The New York Times, relying on anonymous sources, reported on March 16 that Trump administration officials have signalled to Cuban officials that the US wants President Miguel Diaz-Canel to be removed from power.

Popular unrest

The blackouts, as well as regular shortages of food, medicine and other basics, are spurring frustrations. In a rare moment of violence, demonstrators vandalised a provincial office of the Cuban Communist Party last weekend.

It was part of a new trend of protests in which people bang pots and pans at night, at times yelling “Libertad”, or freedom.

Fourteen people have been arrested after the office assault in Moron, a town of around 70,000 people east of Havana, the regional party chief told state-run newspaper Invasor.

The violence prompted Mr Diaz-Canel to acknowledge in an X post “the discontent our people feel because of the prolonged blackouts”, including a major outage in early March.

“What will never be comprehensible, justified or admitted is violence,” Mr Diaz-Canel said.

The government has also rationed petrol sales and some hospital services because of the fuel shortages.

Mr Diaz-Canel confirmed last week that his government had held talks with the United States.

Mr Trump has alleged the fuel blockade is a response to an “extraordinary threat” posed by Cuba to the United States.

He said on March 16 that Cuba “wants to make a deal”, which could come quickly after his administration has finished the war against Iran.

“I think we will pretty soon either make a deal or do whatever we have to do,” Mr Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. AFP