The Cuban government has reproached the U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, for having intensified "even further" the "economic and energy blockade" on the island, after the Trump administration announced new sanctions against Cuba's state-owned oil company this Thursday, in a context of growing pressure from the White House on the Havana authorities and the maintenance of the blockade against the Caribbean country.
The Cuban Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez, has lashed out on social media against the high-ranking U.S. official, stating that "The Secretary of State of the U.S. regime, out of ambitions for conquest, presidential aspirations, and vengeful feelings of the elitist class that propelled his political career, is now further reinforcing the economic and energy blockade against Cuba."
Next, the head of Cuban diplomacy asserted that "to justify it" Rubio "does not resort to excuses prepared by his State Department, but to usual and vulgar lies, the most aggressive, uncultured, and rabid among the enemies of Cuba."
The Foreign Minister's words were disseminated a few hours after the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), dependent on the U.S. Department of the Treasury, included the entity Unión Cuba Petróleo, "alias 'CUPET'," in its list of sanctions, without offering further public information about the decision.
Subsequently, the U.S. Secretary of State announced the application of the same measure against "the Cuban state-owned energy company," arguing that "Cuba's communist elites have turned energy into a weapon to exercise social control and obtain kleptocratic benefits."
In recent dates, Washington has imposed sanctions on the President of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, as well as on four other individuals, including his predecessor, Raúl Castro. These actions are part of a phase of toughening pressure on the island, especially since the beginning of the year, through what the Cuban executive describes as a 'de facto' blockade of fuel supply. The leader himself has described this policy as a "collective punishment" which, in his opinion, constitutes an "act of genocide."