Cuban President Opens Dialogue with Trump After Sanctions Isolated Oil Shipments

JAKARTA - Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel is open to dialogue with the United States, as the Caribbean island nation prepares measures to prevent an energy crisis.

In an emergency briefing, Diaz-Canel, discussed the increasingly intense economic pressure from the United States and had isolated the country from its old allies and disrupted oil shipments.

"Cuba is willing to engage in dialogue with the United States," he said, quoted by ANTARA from Anadolu, Friday, February 6.

Diaz-Canel also stressed that talks must take place. without pressure, without preconditions, on an equal footing, and with respect for our sovereignty, independence, and right to self-determination.

He said the communist government had prepared for potential oil shortages and highlighted progress in renewable energy, noting that a photovoltaic solar park contributed 1,000 megawatts to the national electricity grid, representing an increase of 7 percent.

Cuba is facing a shortage of oil due to a combination of increasingly tightened US sanctions, the collapse of its main supplier Venezuela after political changes, and subsequent targeting of alternative suppliers such as Mexico.

"Cuba is not a terrorist state. There are no foreign troops or military bases in Havana. The only military base belonging to another country in Cuba is the one operated by the United States," he added.

The speech marked Diaz-Canel's first public statement on the escalating tensions with Washington since US President Donald Trump ordered a massive raid on Caracas that resulted in the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a Cuban ally, and his wife, Cilia Flores.

Following Maduro's arrest, in which he and Flores were detained and taken to New York City, where they are now being held, the United States cut off Venezuela's oil supply to Cuba, which had previously been the island's largest energy import.

The Trump administration then tightened economic pressure on Cuba by imposing tariffs on any country that supplies or sells oil to the island nation.

This has resulted in restrictions on the flow of oil from partners such as Mexico, which until recently provided crude oil and its derivatives.