US President Donald Trump attends a meeting with US oil company executives in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC. AFP
"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."
Trump provided no details about what potential deal he referred to, or what such an arrangement would achieve.
The island nation near Florida has been a US foe and an ally of Caracas for decades, but Trump has ramped up his threats in recent days -- particularly after US special forces abducted Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro in a nighttime operation that left dozens of Venezuelan and Cuban security forces dead.
A week ago, Trump stated that "Cuba is ready to fall," noting that the island's economic crisis was worsening and that it would be difficult for Havana to "hold out" without receiving heavily subsidized Venezuelan oil.
Earlier on Sunday, the president reposted a message suggesting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio -- a child of Cuban immigrants -- could become the president of Cuba.
Trump shared that post with the comment: "Sounds good to me!"
In a separate message soon afterwards, Trump said that "Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of OIL and MONEY from Venezuela. In return, Cuba provided 'Security Services' for the last two Venezuelan dictators, BUT NOT ANYMORE!"
"Most of those Cubans are DEAD from last week's U.S.A. attack, and Venezuela doesn't need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years."
Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel rebuffed Trump's threatening language, saying the Caribbean island's residents were "ready to defend the homeland to the last drop of blood."
"Cuba is a free, independent and sovereign nation. No one tells us what to do," Diaz-Canel wrote on X.
Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez also weighed in to stress that Cuba is within its rights to import fuel from any willing exporter, "without interference or subordination to the unilateral coercive measures of the United States."
Under a US trade embargo, Havana since 2000 has increasingly relied on Venezuelan oil provided as part of a deal struck with Maduro's predecessor, President Hugo Chavez.
Trump's provocative language on Cuba comes as the emboldened American leader has hinted he has other countries in his sights after capturing Maduro.
Trump, who had openly sought last year's Nobel Peace Prize, has recently threatened Colombia, Mexico, Iran and Greenland.
In an interview published on Thursday, Trump said his “own morality” was the only constraint on his authority to order military action worldwide.
“Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me,” Trump told The New York Times when asked whether there were limits on his global powers.
Some Republican US lawmakers on Sunday lauded Trump for his aggressive comments on Cuba, including Mario Diaz-Balart, a US congressman from Florida.
"We are witnessing what I am convinced will be the beginning of the end of the regime in Havana," Diaz-Balart posted in Spanish on X.
"The tyranny in Cuba will not survive the second term of President Trump, and Cuba will finally be free after decades of misery, tragedy, and pain."
*This story was edited by Ahram Online.
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