US steps up aid to Cuba while choking off fuel supply

U.S. State Department official Jeremy Lewin announced in Washington and Havana on February 5, 2026, that the United States will provide an additional $6 million in humanitarian aid to Cuba to mitigate the ongoing crisis following Hurricane Melissa. This new commitment brings the total post-hurricane assistance to $9 million, though the move coincides with an intensified U.S. campaign to block oil shipments to the island in an effort to isolate the Cuban government and its regional allies. This dual-track policy is unfolding as Cuba faces critical energy shortages and widespread blackouts. The delivery of the aid is being managed through the Catholic Church to ensure it reaches citizens directly, with U.S. officials noting that Cuban communist authorities have not interfered with the distribution process so far. However, the diplomatic reception has remains hostile; Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio dismissed the gesture as hypocritical. He argued that it is contradictory for the U.S. to offer limited food assistance while simultaneously enforcing "draconian coercive measures" that systematically undermine the nation's broader economy and energy infrastructure. The energy crisis has reached a boiling point following President Donald Trump's declaration that Cuba will no longer receive oil from Venezuela, a consequence of the recent U.S. operation to capture Nicolas Maduro. To further tighten the squeeze, Washington has threatened to impose tariffs on other potential suppliers, such as Mexico, should they attempt to fill the fuel vacuum. In response, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has warned of emergency measures to manage the lack of fuel, which has already led to significant power outages across multiple provinces. While the U.S. maintains that the humanitarian catastrophe is the result of government mismanagement and empty state-run shelves, Havana continues to point to the decades-old embargo as the primary driver of its economic instability. The current administration has significantly ramped up these Cold War-era restrictions, creating a complex environment where millions of Cubans are caught between the offer of essential supplies and the reality of a paralyzed national power grid.