Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17681802186731736822017404173105412766620241108081112_20241027-trump=elections-us-AFP-1_cropped_processed_by_imagy.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">US President-elect Donald Trump dances at the end of a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden in New York, October 27, 2024. Angela Weiss, AFP/File<br/></span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>WASHINGTON, United States — US President Donald Trump urged Cuba on Sunday to &quot;make a deal&quot; soon, pledging to cut off all oil and money flowing to the communist-run island after the toppling of Havana&#x27;s key ally, Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/1/9/trump-says-my-own-morality-is-only-restraint-on-global-power-0931">Trump says &#x27;my own morality&#x27; is only restraint on global power</a></div><p>The threatening social media post drew an angry retort from Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who said &quot;no one&quot; would tell his country what to do.</p><p>Washington has imposed economy-crippling sanctions on its island neighbor for decades, but Trump has ramped up the pressure in recent days.</p><p>US special forces seized Maduro and his wife last week in a lightning raid that left dozens of the ousted Venezuelan president&#x27;s security personnel dead -- many of whom were Cuban.</p><p>Though Maduro&#x27;s allies have become interim leaders, Trump has claimed the United States now actually controls Venezuela, through a US naval blockade of its vital oil sector.</p><p>&quot;THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA - ZERO!&quot; Trump said Sunday morning on his Truth Social platform. &quot;I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.&quot;</p><p>Trump provided no details about what potential deal he referred to, or what such an arrangement would achieve.</p><p>He said &quot;Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of OIL and MONEY from Venezuela. In return, Cuba provided &#x27;Security Services&#x27; for the last two Venezuelan dictators, BUT NOT ANYMORE!&quot;</p><p>&quot;Most of those Cubans are DEAD from last week&#x27;s U.S.A. attack, and Venezuela doesn&#x27;t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years.&quot;</p><p>A week ago, Trump stated that &quot;Cuba is ready to fall,&quot; noting that the island&#x27;s economic crisis was worsening and it would be difficult for Havana to &quot;hold out&quot; without receiving heavily subsidized Venezuelan oil.</p><p>Earlier on Sunday, the president reposted a message that jokingly suggested US Secretary of State Marco Rubio -- a child of Cuban immigrants who concurrently holds the posts of national security advisor, acting head of the US archives, and acting international aid administrator -- could also become the president of Cuba.</p><p>Trump shared that post with the comment: &quot;Sounds good to me!&quot;</p><p>Cuba&#x27;s president rebuffed Trump&#x27;s threatening language, saying the Caribbean island&#x27;s residents were &quot;ready to defend the homeland to the last drop of blood.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Cuba is a free, independent and sovereign nation. No one tells us what to do,&quot; Diaz-Canel wrote on X.</p><p>Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez also weighed in to stress that Cuba is within its rights to import fuel from any willing exporter, &quot;without interference or subordination to the unilateral coercive measures of the United States.&quot;</p><div><br/></div><div><strong> &#x27;TALK, TALK, TALK&#x27; </strong></div><div><br/></div><p>A Cold War-era US trade embargo has cinched Cuba&#x27;s economy beginning in 1962, and since 2000 Havana increasingly has relied on Venezuelan oil provided as part of a deal struck with Maduro&#x27;s predecessor, the firebrand leftist Hugo Chavez.</p><p>On Sunday in the streets of Havana, retiree Mercedes Simon seemed to dismiss the US leader&#x27;s latest bluster.</p><p>&quot;Trump is not going to touch Cuba,&quot; the 65-year-old told AFP. &quot;All the presidents talk, talk, talk&quot; about Cuba, for decades, &quot;but they don&#x27;t act.&quot;</p><p>Marcos Sanchez, a 21-year-old working in the restaurant business, said the two countries should find common ground, &quot;without resorting to violence.&quot;</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/1/8/us-attack-in-venezuela-left-100-dead-minister-says-1034">US says to dictate Venezuela decisions, oil sales</a></div><p>Trump&#x27;s provocative language on Cuba comes as the emboldened American leader has hinted he has other countries in his sights after capturing Maduro.</p><p>Trump, who had openly sought last year&#x27;s Nobel Peace Prize, has recently threatened Colombia, Mexico, Iran and Greenland.</p><p>Some Republican US lawmakers on Sunday lauded Trump for his aggressive comments on Cuba, including congressman Mario Diaz-Balart from Florida.</p><p>&quot;The tyranny in Cuba will not survive the second term of President Trump,&quot; Diaz-Balart posted in Spanish on X, &quot;and Cuba will finally be free after decades of misery, tragedy, and pain.&quot;</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEOS</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YXLtXMPoYcI?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wAY3NMwGj4k?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>US President Donald Trump urged Cuba on Sunday to "make a deal" soon, pledging to cut off all oil and money flowing to the communist-run island after the toppling of Havana's key ally, Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.</p>

US President Donald Trump urged Cuba on Sunday to "make a deal" soon, pledging to cut off all oil and money flowing to the communist-run island after the toppling of Havana's key ally, Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.

Trump vows to cut off Cuba's oil after toppling Venezuelan ally Maduro

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Trump vows to cut off Cuba's oil after toppling Venezuelan ally Maduro

Agence France-Presse

Published January 12, 2026 08:14 AM PHT

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Updated January 12, 2026 09:13 AM PHT

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Agence France-Presse

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