US President Donald Trump vowed Monday to “take” Cuba as the island’s national power grid collapsed under an oil embargo imposed by Washington.
“I do believe I’ll be having the honour of taking Cuba,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “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.”
Cuba’s national electricity grid suffered a complete shutdown on Monday, leaving the island of 10 million people without power, according to state-owned grid operator Union Nacional Electrica de Cuba. The company said no faults were detected in operating electrical units and work had begun to restore power.
Cuba has received no oil shipments since 9 January after the US ousted Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro and imposed an effective blockade on fuel deliveries. Trump signed an executive order in January threatening tariffs against any country that sells or provides oil to Cuba.
The island’s ageing electricity system already suffered daily outages of up to 20 hours in some areas. The fuel shortage has forced airlines to curtail flights, damaging the tourism sector, while the government has rationed petrol sales and some hospital services.
Trump said Sunday Cuba “wants to make a deal”, which could come quickly after his administration finishes the war against Iran. “I think we will pretty soon either make a deal or do whatever we have to do,” he said aboard Air Force One.
The New York Times reported Monday, citing anonymous sources, that Trump administration officials have signalled to Cuban officials they want President Miguel Díaz-Canel removed from power.
Cuba’s Deputy Prime Minister Oscar Perez-Oliva announced Monday that Cuban exiles would now be able to invest in and own businesses on the island.
“Cuba is open to having a fluid commercial relationship with US companies” and “also with Cubans residing in the United States and their descendants,” Perez-Oliva told NBC News.
Protests have erupted amid the blackouts and shortages of food, medicine and other basics. Demonstrators vandalised a provincial office of the Cuban Communist Party in Moron last weekend, a town of approximately 70,000 people east of Havana. Fourteen people were arrested after the attack, according to state-run newspaper Invasor.
The violence has sparked a new trend of protests in which people bang pots and pans at night, at times yelling “Libertad” — freedom.
Díaz-Canel acknowledged 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,” he said.
The president confirmed Thursday his government had held talks with the US.
Trump has alleged the fuel blockade is a response to an “extraordinary threat” posed by Cuba to the US, claiming Havana has aligned itself with “hostile countries and malign actors” and hosts “their military and intelligence capabilities”.
Cuba has rejected the claim and urged the US to ease its pressure campaign.