Secret oil deliveries? Russia throws Cuba the life preserver

That could now change: According to reports, two tankers are currently being taken along Russian crude oil and fuel Heading for the Caribbean island and arriving there next week. Specifically, it should be about: „Sea Horse“ which sails under the Hong Kong flag and carries 200,000 barrels of diesel. The tanker was apparently supposed to head for Cuba last month, but then changed course – and is now heading towards the Caribbean again Bloomberg reported.

The second tanker is said to be the Russian-flagged, sanctioned one “Anatoly Kolodkin” be. According to data from analytical firm Kpler, it is carrying more than 700,000 barrels of crude oil, loaded at the Russian port of Primorsk.

Oil embargo paralyzes Cuba

For Havana, the deliveries would be a long-awaited life preserver. The island has been suffering from one for three months now Beer Embargo in the USA: Countries that supply Cuba must expect punitive tariffs. At the same time, a US naval blockade prevents tankers from reaching the island at all.

According to energy expert Jorge Piñón, at least two US Coast Guard ships are currently off the northeastern coast of Cuba – and are therefore able to intercept ships on command, he tells the Miami Herald. It is therefore questionable whether the “Sea Horse” and the “Anatoly Kolodkin” – they are said to use deception maneuvers to conceal their position – actually arrive at the Cuban destination port of Matanzas.

Help from outside

What is clear, however, is that Cuba could urgently use the oil. The island can only cover 40 percent of its needs (approx. 100,000 barrels per day) through its own production – the rest traditionally came from friendly countries. That was the case for a long time Soviet Unionlater Venezuela and last Mexicothat after the fall of Nicolas Maduro stepped in. Under pressure from Donald Trump lets president Claudia Sheinbaum But now they only ship humanitarian aid to Havana.

This is also urgently needed there. The US oil blockade has dramatically worsened the already tense situation on the island. Gas for cooking is scarce, and food is now so expensive that it can only be paid for with money from abroad. Operations in hospitals are canceled and flights are canceled by airlines due to a lack of fuel.

The daily power outages are particularly stressful for people, sometimes plunging the entire island into darkness and also restricting the water supply – as was the case most recently on Monday. The supply was only gradually restored on Tuesday.

“The Cubans are angry”

“The power outages are really unbearable. People don’t know when they start, how long they last, whether the meat is rotting in the freezers or when they can prepare their food,” says the Cuba historian Michael Zeuske, who returned from a visit in March, to the KURIER.

Spreading diseases such as chikungunya fever and migration are also central problems. “The Cubans are angry and don’t know what to do anymore,” he says. Poverty and begging now exist everywhere on the island. “The very poor are happy if they have water and sugar to stave off hunger. But at the moment there isn’t even real sugar.”

So far there have been no major protests on the island. “People are afraid, the repression in the past was massive,” said Zeuske. But: “If this continues, people will probably take to the streets again at some point.”