Private companies seek to import fuel amid Cuban energy crisis
By AFP
February 19, 2026
Vehicles wait in line to refuel at a gas station in Havan
By AFP
February 19, 2026
Vehicles wait in line to refuel at a gas station in Havan
- Copyright AFP/File ADALBERTO ROQUE
Faced with a severe energy crisis exacerbated by US sanctions, private companies in Cuba are attempting to import fuel after the island’s government agreed to end its monopoly on the sector.
The fuel crisis, already chronic due to the communist government’s lack of foreign currency, has worsened significantly since the halt of Venezuelan oil deliveries and Washington’s threats to impose tariffs on any country selling Cuba oil.
On the island of about 9.6 million people, diesel sales are now suspended and gasoline sales are drastically rationed.
“We bought an isotank… through a state-owned importer,” the owner of a private company planning to import nearly 25,000 liters of diesel from the United States told AFP on the condition of anonymity, referencing a container used to transport diesel.
“They should deliver it this week.”
The operation is being carried out under a license issued by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), a branch of the Treasury Department, which allows private businesses on the island to import certain products, including fuel.
A source close to the matter confirmed to AFP that Cuban private entrepreneurs were also seeking to import diesel from countries neighboring Cuba, as well as from Europe.
This type of OFAC license was granted several years ago, but the Cuban government only recently authorized private fuel imports in response to the severity of the crisis.
While the crude oil produced in Cuba powers the country’s power plants, the island is dependent on imports for diesel and liquefied petroleum gas.
“Diesel has an impact on decentralized (electricity) production through generators,” and also on “transportation, agriculture and the water sector,” Jorge Pinon, a researcher at the Energy Institute at the University of Texas, told AFP.
– Security checks –
When announcing a series of emergency measures to conserve electricity and fuel this month, Deputy Prime Minister Oscar Perez-Oliva Fraga also mentioned a new provision allowing companies to purchase fuel, though he provided few details.
The businessman interviewed by AFP said authorities have “not set any limits” on his fuel purchases, though he noted he cannot sell it to third parties.
The state previously had a monopoly on fuel sales in Cuba, but the government, caught between the US embargo, the structural weaknesses of its centralized economy and social discontent, opened certain sectors to small and medium-sized enterprises in 2021.
Currently, however, authorities have provided no details on the conditions that private companies wishing to import fuel must meet.
Safety controls, validated by the fire department, must be implemented for the storage of this fuel, the businessman told AFP, but “the institutions themselves are not able to clearly outline all the steps.”
According to Oniel Diaz, a consultant for private businesses, some entrepreneurs are already “at a very advanced stage in the import process.”
He said the possibility to import fuel opened up new opportunities for the private sector, but he noted there are still obstacles in the process, including companies’ abilities to make foreign payments and transport the fuel.
Another main concern, Diaz noted, is the risk of clashing with the Trump administration’s push to cut off fuel sales to the island.
Faced with a severe energy crisis exacerbated by US sanctions, private companies in Cuba are attempting to import fuel after the island’s government agreed to end its monopoly on the sector.
The fuel crisis, already chronic due to the communist government’s lack of foreign currency, has worsened significantly since the halt of Venezuelan oil deliveries and Washington’s threats to impose tariffs on any country selling Cuba oil.
On the island of about 9.6 million people, diesel sales are now suspended and gasoline sales are drastically rationed.
“We bought an isotank… through a state-owned importer,” the owner of a private company planning to import nearly 25,000 liters of diesel from the United States told AFP on the condition of anonymity, referencing a container used to transport diesel.
“They should deliver it this week.”
The operation is being carried out under a license issued by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), a branch of the Treasury Department, which allows private businesses on the island to import certain products, including fuel.
A source close to the matter confirmed to AFP that Cuban private entrepreneurs were also seeking to import diesel from countries neighboring Cuba, as well as from Europe.
This type of OFAC license was granted several years ago, but the Cuban government only recently authorized private fuel imports in response to the severity of the crisis.
While the crude oil produced in Cuba powers the country’s power plants, the island is dependent on imports for diesel and liquefied petroleum gas.
“Diesel has an impact on decentralized (electricity) production through generators,” and also on “transportation, agriculture and the water sector,” Jorge Pinon, a researcher at the Energy Institute at the University of Texas, told AFP.
– Security checks –
When announcing a series of emergency measures to conserve electricity and fuel this month, Deputy Prime Minister Oscar Perez-Oliva Fraga also mentioned a new provision allowing companies to purchase fuel, though he provided few details.
The businessman interviewed by AFP said authorities have “not set any limits” on his fuel purchases, though he noted he cannot sell it to third parties.
The state previously had a monopoly on fuel sales in Cuba, but the government, caught between the US embargo, the structural weaknesses of its centralized economy and social discontent, opened certain sectors to small and medium-sized enterprises in 2021.
Currently, however, authorities have provided no details on the conditions that private companies wishing to import fuel must meet.
Safety controls, validated by the fire department, must be implemented for the storage of this fuel, the businessman told AFP, but “the institutions themselves are not able to clearly outline all the steps.”
According to Oniel Diaz, a consultant for private businesses, some entrepreneurs are already “at a very advanced stage in the import process.”
He said the possibility to import fuel opened up new opportunities for the private sector, but he noted there are still obstacles in the process, including companies’ abilities to make foreign payments and transport the fuel.
Another main concern, Diaz noted, is the risk of clashing with the Trump administration’s push to cut off fuel sales to the island.
Marco Rubio exposed for ‘secret talks’ amid Trump admin’s starvation campaign
Alexander Willis
February 18, 2026
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends a joint press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (not pictured) in Budapest, Hungary, February 16, 2026. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was revealed by Axios Wednesday to be engaged in “secret talks” with the grandson of ex-Cuban President Raúl Castro, bypassing official communication channels as part of the Trump administration’s brutal campaign to starve the Caribbean nation of resources in the pursuit of regime change.
"Our position – the U.S. government's position – is the regime has to go," one senior Trump administration official told Axios in its report Wednesday, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "But what exactly that looks like is up to [President Donald Trump] and he has yet to decide. Rubio is still in talks with the grandson."
While Cuba has faced crippling sanctions and an embargo imposed on it by the United States since the late 1950s, an executive order Trump signed last month imposed even harsher penalties on nations supplying the Caribbean nation with oil, setting off a chain reaction that’s shuttered hospitals and starved people of food.
Trump openly cheered his administration’s use of starvation as a negotiating tactic on Tuesday, calling Cuba a “failed nation” that should “absolutely make a deal.” He also refused to rule out an outright attack on Cuba similar to the United States' attack on Venezuela last month.
And on Wednesday, sources revealed to Axios that Rubio is apparently in regular contact with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, the grandson of Raúl Castro, and the great-nephew of Fidel Castro, talks that have reportedly been "surprisingly" friendly.
“I wouldn't call these 'negotiations' as much as 'discussions' about the future," the senior Trump administration official told Axios.
Another source who was “familiar with the talks” told Axios that Rubio is “looking for the next Delcy in Cuba,” referring to acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez, who’s led Venezuela since the Trump administration abducted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro last month.
“There's no political diatribes about the past. It's about the future,” the source told Axios. “[Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro] could be straight out of Hialeah, [Florida]. This could be a conversation between regular guys on the streets of Miami."The United States has sought to topple Cuban’s government since the late 1950s after revolutionaries – led by the Castros and Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara – ousted the U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista, whose leadership, critics say, maintained the Caribbean nation as a “virtual slave state” to the benefit of U.S. companies.
Alexander Willis
February 18, 2026
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends a joint press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (not pictured) in Budapest, Hungary, February 16, 2026. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was revealed by Axios Wednesday to be engaged in “secret talks” with the grandson of ex-Cuban President Raúl Castro, bypassing official communication channels as part of the Trump administration’s brutal campaign to starve the Caribbean nation of resources in the pursuit of regime change.
"Our position – the U.S. government's position – is the regime has to go," one senior Trump administration official told Axios in its report Wednesday, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "But what exactly that looks like is up to [President Donald Trump] and he has yet to decide. Rubio is still in talks with the grandson."
While Cuba has faced crippling sanctions and an embargo imposed on it by the United States since the late 1950s, an executive order Trump signed last month imposed even harsher penalties on nations supplying the Caribbean nation with oil, setting off a chain reaction that’s shuttered hospitals and starved people of food.
Trump openly cheered his administration’s use of starvation as a negotiating tactic on Tuesday, calling Cuba a “failed nation” that should “absolutely make a deal.” He also refused to rule out an outright attack on Cuba similar to the United States' attack on Venezuela last month.
And on Wednesday, sources revealed to Axios that Rubio is apparently in regular contact with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, the grandson of Raúl Castro, and the great-nephew of Fidel Castro, talks that have reportedly been "surprisingly" friendly.
“I wouldn't call these 'negotiations' as much as 'discussions' about the future," the senior Trump administration official told Axios.
Another source who was “familiar with the talks” told Axios that Rubio is “looking for the next Delcy in Cuba,” referring to acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez, who’s led Venezuela since the Trump administration abducted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro last month.
“There's no political diatribes about the past. It's about the future,” the source told Axios. “[Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro] could be straight out of Hialeah, [Florida]. This could be a conversation between regular guys on the streets of Miami."The United States has sought to topple Cuban’s government since the late 1950s after revolutionaries – led by the Castros and Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara – ousted the U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista, whose leadership, critics say, maintained the Caribbean nation as a “virtual slave state” to the benefit of U.S. companies.
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