The United States eased an oil embargo on Cuba, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio called for the island to change “dramatically,” saying the communist government had only itself to blame for a historic economic crisis.
Rubio warned that restrictions would be added back on Cuba’s imports of Venezuelan oil if Havana violated the “spirit” of a recent easing of the US embargo.
Noting that oil imports would be allowed via Cuba’s small private sector, Rubio said, “If we catch the private sector there playing games and diverting it, to the regime or to the military (controlled) company — if we find that they’re moving that stuff around in ways that violate the spirit and the scope of these permissions, those licenses will be canceled.”
“Cuba needs to change. It needs to change dramatically because it is the only chance that it has to improve the quality of life for its people and not lose 15 percent of its population since 2021,” Rubio told reporters at a summit in St Kitts and Nevis, where the US embargo on Cuba’s oil imports was a key discussion topic. (AFP)
