The United Nations (UN) has entered into formal negotiations with the United States regarding the entry of fuel supplies to Cuba amid acute fuel shortages caused by a U.S. oil blockade, said Francisco Pichón, the permanent representative of the UN to Cuba.
Members of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Trump administration are discussing ways “to ensure that fuel can be accessed for humanitarian purposes,” according to Pichón.
The UN representative clarified that those fuel supplies would be used for “emergency response operations” and to protect the access of “vulnerable people and groups” to “vital services”.
The recent U.S. oil blockade on oil has led to a growing nationwide humanitarian crisis: many regions are facing prolonged power outages, hospitals are facing increasing pressure as life-saving treatments are disrupted, and the economy is crumbling as schools and workplaces reduce their operational hours.
The U.S. campaign of economic pressure is widely seen as an attempt to force the Cuban regime into collapse or make its leader grant political concessions to Washington. Senior Republicans in the U.S. have repeatedly suggested that some form of regime change in Cuba is imminent.
During the Shield of the Americas Summit on Saturday, President Trump promised that “great change” was coming to Cuba and its “bad regime that has been bad for a long time.”
On Monday, President Trump reiterated his warning, claiming that Cuba may soon face either a “friendly” or “unfriendly” takeover by the U.S.
Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham also told Fox News on Sunday that “the liberation of Cuba is upon us. It’s just a matter of time now.”
Although there are reports that an economic deal between Washington and Havana could soon be announced, the “unfriendly” option remains a possibility. The U.S. administration’s strikes on Iran or its operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro could serve as templates for a potential military operation against Cuba.
Read more: U.S. Reportedly Closing In On Economic Deal With Cuba
Ricardo Torres, a Cuban economist and research fellow at the Center for Latin American and Latino Studies at American University, spoke to Latin America Reports about the current Cuban crisis and the various iterations of regime change that could occur as a result.
“Whatever emotional and material reserves [Cuban] people once had are now largely exhausted … if the United States strictly enforces the oil embargo, a negotiated solution will likely become inevitable, given the limited support Cuba is receiving from its allies,” the economist said.
Venezuela, Cuba’s erstwhile closest regional ally, has stopped supplying the island with oil since the capture of President Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces and in early March an oil tanker bound for the island from Russia – a traditional ally – reversed route under suspected U.S. pressure.
Commenting on recent revelations about UN-U.S. negotiations, Torres pointed out that the discussions between the White House and the UN will likely be limited to “aid delivery” as opposed to opening an avenue for de-escalation.
The U.S., he argued, “would [probably] favor a full [political] transition in Cuba” and an end to Communist party rule. Failing that, “they may be prepared to support a phased agreement that starts with building a more stable economic base and proceed from there,” the research fellow concluded.
Featured Image: A horse-drawn cart in Cuba during the Cuban ‘Período Especial’, the term used to describe the Cuban economic struggles in the 1990s after the Soviet collapse. The scale of current fuel shortages in Cuba has not been seen since the ‘Período Especial’
Image Credit: Nick via Wikimedia Commons
License: Creative Commons Licenses
