Cuba | Pakistan

Two Democrats from the US House of Representatives visited Cuba last week, the first such delegation to go to the island this year since US President Donald Trump imposed a de facto oil blockade in a bid to bring Cuba’s communist-run government to its knees. Congressional representatives Pramila Jayapal, a leading member of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, and Jonathan Jackson, a Democrat with a long interest in Cuba, said they had come to “see the suffering that is happening on the ground” as a result of Trump’s fuel embargo, which they called “an illegal blockade of energy supplies”. The lawmakers’ visit comes at a time of unprecedented tension in the decades-long frosty relationship between the US and Cuba. The Trump administration has closed the tap on remittances to Cuba, threatened to slap tariffs on countries that provide oil to the island and placed it on a list of nations that sponsor terrorism. “This is the most sanctioned part of Planet Earth right now, just 90 miles off our shores,” J...

Russia said on Monday that an oil tanker carrying 100,000 metric tons of crude oil had arrived in Cuba and that Moscow would stand by its friends by working on further supplies despite a US blockade of the island. The US cut off Venezuela’s oil exports to Cuba after toppling deposed Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro on January 3, and US President Donald Trump threatened to slap punishing tariffs on any other country that sent crude to Cuba. But Trump on Sunday signalled he was reversing course and expressed sympathy for the Cuban people’s need for energy. The Anatoly Kolodkin was waiting to offload at the port of Matanzas, Russia’s transport ministry said. The Kremlin said it had raised the issue of the tanker during talks with the US but that Russia felt it had a duty to support “friends” in Cuba. “This issue was indeed raised in advance during contacts with our American partners,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Cuba has not received an oil tanker in three months, according to President Mi...

United States President Donald Trump said on Friday that “Cuba is next” in his latest threat against the Caribbean island, as he dismissed concerns that recent American military actions would cost him political support. Cuba’s communist government has faced mounting pressure from Trump, who imposed a de facto oil blockade in January and mused about “taking” the country. Speaking at the Saudi-backed FII Priority investment forum in Miami, Trump said his Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement wanted “strength” and “victory”, citing the January raid where US forces seized Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. “I built this great military. I said, “You’ll never have to use it,” but sometimes you have to use it,” Trump said. “And Cuba is next, by the way. But pretend I didn’t say that.” Trump did not specify what he planned to do with Cuba, telling the media to “disregard that statement” before repeating “Cuba’s next” to laughter from the audience. In his Friday speech, the Republican president also made a teasing c...

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the United States could soon reach a deal with Cuba or take other action, signaling that developments in the long-strained relationship may come quickly. “Cuba also wants to make a deal, and I think we will pretty soon either make a deal or do whatever we have to do,” Trump said to reporters on Air Force One. “We’re talking to Cuba, but we’re going to do Iran before Cuba.” The comments come as tensions between Washington and Havana remain elevated following years of sanctions, diplomatic friction and disputes over migration and security, with regional allies and investors watching closely for signs of a policy shift. Cuba’s President Miguel Daz-Canel said on Friday that the country opened talks with the United States as the island faces one of its most severe economic crises in decades. “These talks have been aimed at finding solutions through dialogue to the bilateral differences we have between the two nations,” Diaz-Canel said in a video aired on state televisi...

Cuba’s government on Monday told AFP that it was in “communication” with US President Donald Trump’s administration but not yet in formal talks on a deal to end Washington’s pressure campaign on the island. “Today we cannot talk about having dialogue with the United States, but it is true that there have been communications between the two governments,” deputy foreign minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio said in an interview. Trump on Sunday claimed the United States was in talks with “the highest people” in Cuba and that he expected to “make a deal” with its leadership, without saying what a deal might look like. De Cossio repeated that Cuba was “open to dialogue” with the United States amid calls from Cubans for the government to negotiate to avert a humanitarian crisis. Trump has been ratcheting up pressure on Havana since the January 3 capture by US special forces of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, a top Cuba ally and financial backer. Pressured by Washington, Venezuela’s new administration has cut crude...

US President Donald Trump urged Cuba on Sunday to “make a deal” soon, pledging to cut off all oil and money flowing to the communist-run island after the toppling of Havana’s key ally, Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. The threatening social media post drew an angry retort from Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who said “no one” would tell his country what to do. Washington has imposed economy-crippling sanctions on its island neighbour for decades, but Trump has ramped up the pressure in recent days. US special forces seized Maduro and his wife this month in a lightning raid that left dozens of the ousted Venezuelan president’s security personnel dead — many of whom were Cuban. Though Maduro’s allies have become interim leaders, Trump has claimed the United States now actually controls Venezuela through a US naval blockade of its vital oil sector. “THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA - ZERO!” Trump said on his Truth Social platform. “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.” ...

Hurricane Melissa unleashed devastation in Jamaica as the strongest storm on record ever to hit the Caribbean island nation, and roared later on Wednesday into eastern Cuba, smashing the city of Santiago and flooding rural land. A Category 5 storm with sustained winds of 185 miles per hour when it barrelled into Jamaica, Melissa had been downgraded to a still dangerous Category 3 when it hit Cuba with sustained winds of 120mph, the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said. “Life-threatening storm surge, flash flooding and landslides, and damaging hurricane winds are ongoing this morning,” the centre said. The historic storm blasted western Jamaica, demolishing homes, knocking down swathes of trees and washing out roadways. Authorities did not yet release details of fatalities but said they expected loss of life. Eyewitness reports and videos on social media from Jamaica showed vehicles destroyed by flying debris, hotel doors blown off hinges and roofs scattered across neighborhoods. Video of the airport in Mon...