US and Cuba failed to reach energy deal, media report
The administration of US President Donald Trump secretly considered the possibility of an energy deal with Cuba at the beginning of the year. It could have included supplies of US oil and investment in exchange for large-scale economic and political changes on the island, but no agreement was reached due to opposition from the Cuban side and political pressure in Miami, Anadolu Agency reports, citing media outlets.
Terms of the proposal
According to these reports, Washington offered to supply Cuba with oil if Havana agreed to privatize the state energy company CUPET. The United States also wanted American investors to gain control of the company that manages oil refineries, storage facilities and fuel distribution through CIMEX, a structure of the military conglomerate GAESA.
The proposal emerged after US forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on January 3, which, according to the source, halted oil supplies from Caracas to Havana. Cuba produces about 40% of the oil it consumes. Its outdated power grid and Soviet-era power plants have repeatedly failed.
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Contacts and sanctions pressure
In February, the United States authorized the sale of US oil to private Cuban entities, which, according to the source’s assessment, signaled Washington’s interest in Cuba’s energy sector. That same month, US officials, according to the Miami Herald, met on the islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, the grandson of former Cuban leader Raúl Castro.
Rodríguez Castro reportedly said that Cuba could agree to economic reforms, but Washington cannot dictate how the country is governed. US Representatives Carlos Giménez and Mario Díaz-Balart questioned reports of negotiations with the Castro family, while Representative María Elvira Salazar opposed a deal that could preserve the current government.
Later, the Trump administration shifted to sanctions pressure targeting GAESA in May and CUPET in June. Cuba’s foreign minister said on Monday that communication channels with Washington remain open, but there has been no progress and no negotiations are currently underway.
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