The Government of Cuba, through its embassy near Monrovia, has strongly condemned what it describes as a fresh escalation of U.S. hostility toward Cuba, following a new executive order issued by the President of the United States on January 29, 2026, targeting countries that supply oil to the island nation.
The measure, which declares a so-called national emergency, authorizes the imposition of trade tariffs on imports from third countries that continue fuel exports to Cuba -- an action Havana says is designed to tighten the decades-old economic blockade and deepen hardship for ordinary Cubans.
In a statement released by the Cuban Embassy, the Revolutionary Government denounced the order as "an extreme and aggressive act," arguing that it is grounded in what it called "lies and defamatory accusations," including the claim that Cuba represents an "unusual and extraordinary threat" to U.S. national security.
"The President himself and his government are aware that no one, or very few, can believe such mendacious arguments, but they do not care," the statement said.
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The latest sanctions must be understood within the broader historical context of U.S.-Cuba relations, which have been marked by hostility since the 1959 Cuban Revolution. Following the overthrow of the U.S.-backed Batista regime, Washington imposed a comprehensive economic embargo in the early 1960s, aimed at isolating and economically strangling the new revolutionary government. Over the past 67 years, that embargo -- reinforced through legislation such as the Helms-Burton Act -- has evolved into one of the longest-standing sanctions regimes in modern history.
Despite brief periods of thaw, including the normalization steps taken during the Obama administration, successive U.S. governments have largely maintained or intensified economic pressure. The Trump administration reimposed sweeping restrictions, tightening financial flows, limiting travel, and targeting fuel shipments. Cuban officials say the current executive order builds directly on those measures, seeking to choke off energy supplies through what they describe as "blackmail, threats, and coercion" of third countries.
According to the Embassy, the decision "consolidates a dangerous way of conducting U.S. foreign policy by force and exercising ambitions to guarantee imperialist hegemony."
Fuel shortages have wide-ranging consequences for Cuba's economy and social services. Energy constraints affect electricity generation, transportation, food production, healthcare delivery, and water supply--placing the heaviest burden on ordinary citizens. Cuban authorities argue that sanctions deliberately exacerbate these pressures, aiming to generate public discontent and social instability.
"These impacts are not abstract," Cuban officials have consistently argued. Limited fuel means fewer buses, disruptions in hospitals, reduced agricultural output, and higher costs of living. The Embassy warned that the policy is designed to "cause suffering to millions of people" in pursuit of political objectives.
Yet, the statement emphasized that such pressure has historically failed to break Cuba's resolve. "Imperialism is mistaken when it believes that economic pressure... will break the determination of brave and combative people to defend national sovereignty," it said.
Cuba also framed the executive order as a violation of international law, asserting that it contravenes the principles of sovereign equality and non-interference, as well as the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace. By attempting to dictate which countries Cuba may trade with, the U.S. is, according to the Embassy, asserting authority over sovereign states and undermining regional stability.
"The executive order constitutes a flagrant violation of international law," the statement noted, adding that it is the United States--not Cuba--that threatens "the security, stability, and peace of the region and the world."
Analysts note that the continued sanctions also carry costs for the United States. The policy has repeatedly isolated Washington diplomatically, with the vast majority of UN member states annually voting to condemn the embargo. U.S. businesses are excluded from potential trade and investment opportunities, while migration pressures and humanitarian challenges linked to Cuba's economic difficulties often rebound toward U.S. shores.
Moreover, critics within the United States argue that decades of sanctions have failed to achieve their stated political goals, raising questions about the effectiveness and moral legitimacy of the approach.
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Reiterating Cuba's long-standing position, the Embassy stressed that Havana remains willing to engage in "serious, responsible dialogue" with the United States, based on mutual respect, sovereign equality, and non-interference. It emphasized that Cuba poses no threat to the U.S. or its citizens and highlighted the island's record of international cooperation, including medical assistance and humanitarian solidarity.
"Cuba does not threaten or attack any country," the statement said. "It is a peaceful, supportive, and cooperative nation, willing to help and contribute to other states."
As tensions escalate once more, Cuban officials argue that the international community faces a defining choice: whether to allow coercive economic measures to become a normalized tool of foreign policy, or to stand for legality, solidarity, and peaceful coexistence.
"We will face this new attack with firmness, equanimity, and the certainty that reason is absolutely on our side," the Embassy concluded, invoking a familiar revolutionary refrain: "Homeland or Death, We Shall Overcome."
