Trump administration weighs naval blockade to halt Cuban oil imports

[El Presidente]

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/23/trump-administration-weighs-naval-blockade-to-halt-cuban-oil-imports-00744708

Trump administration weighs naval blockade to halt Cuban oil imports

“Energy is the chokehold to kill” the Cuban regime, said a person familiar with the discussions.

 

A person watches the oil tanker Ocean Mariner, Monrovia, arrive to the bay in Havana, Cuba, Jan. 9, 2026. | Ramon Espinosa/AP

By Ben Lefebvre and Eric Bazail-Eimil01/23/2026 02:12 PM ESTUpdated: 01/23/2026 02:31 PM EST

• The Trump administration is weighing new tactics to drive regime change in Cuba, including imposing a total blockade on oil imports to the Caribbean country, three people familiar with the plan said Thursday.

That escalation has been sought by some critics of the Cuban government in the administration and backed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to two of the three people, who were granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive discussions. No decision has been made on whether to approve that move, but it could be among the suite of possible actions presented to President Donald Trump to force the end of Cuba’s communist government, these people added.

Preventing shipments of crude oil to the island would be a step-up from Trump’s statement last week that the U.S. would halt Cuba’s imports of oil from Venezuela, which had been its main crude supplier.

 

 

 

But there are ongoing debates within the administration about whether it is even necessary to go that far, according to all three people. The loss of Venezuelan oil shipments — and the resale of some of those cargoes that Havana used to obtain foreign currency — has already throttled Cuba’s laggard economy. A total blockade of oil imports into Cuba could then spark a humanitarian crisis, a possibility that has led some in the administration to push back against it.

The discussions, however, show the extent to which people inside the Trump administration are considering deposing leaders in Latin America they view as adversaries.

“Energy is the chokehold to kill the regime,” said one person familiar with the plan who was granted anonymity to describe the private discussions. Deposing the country’s communist government – in power since the Cuban revolution in 1959 – is “100 percent a 2026 event” in the administration’s eyes, this person added.

The effort would be justified under the 1994 LIBERTAD Act, better known as the Helms-Burton Act, this person added. That law codifies the U.S. embargo on Cuban trade and financial transa

 

[MrBirdman]

You can’t do that unless you’re willing to fire on Mexican or Chinese tankers trying to run it. One can’t rule it out entirely with these lunatics but, even from a purely self-interested point of view, sinking an oil tanker in the Gulf is a really dumb idea.

[ImTripN2]

 "said a person familiar with the discussions."

Uh huh... please let us know if and when it actually happens.