TORONTO (AP) — Canada announced Monday it is preparing an aid package for Cuba as the island struggles with power outages and severe fuel shortages exacerbated by a U.S. oil embargo.
Foreign Minister Anita Anand declined to go into details.
“We are preparing a plan to assist. At this time we are not in a position to provide details on the announcement,” Anand said.
Cuba is facing an energy crisis that has worsened in recent weeks after its main supplier, Venezuela, cut oil supplies following the United States military operation in the South American country that resulted in the arrest of its president, Nicolás Maduro, in the first days of the year. Mexico, another major supplier, later suspended its oil shipments under pressure from the United States.
Air Canada and other airlines have canceled their flights to the Caribbean island due to fuel shortages.
Canadian tourism is vital to the Cuban economy. Global Affairs Canada, a government agency, has noted that Canada is the second largest source of direct investment on the island, especially in the mining and tourism sectors.
Canada would join Mexico in providing aid.
Two Mexican navy ships loaded with humanitarian aid docked in Cuba earlier this month, two weeks after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on countries that sell oil to the island, deepening the Caribbean country’s economic and energy crisis. The ships transported approximately 800 tons of goods and 1,500 tons of milk powder and beans.
The economic crisis that has hit Cuba since 2020 has been exacerbated by the tightening of US sanctions aimed at forcing a change in the island’s political model.
Because Cuba produces only 40% of the fuel it needs, it remains extremely vulnerable to external blockades. While some of its key allies, such as Russia and China, have condemned the US measures, their support has so far been largely symbolic.
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This story was translated from English by an AP editor using a generative artificial intelligence tool.
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