Airlines scramble after Trump’s tariffs force Cuba into fuel crisis

TLDR:

• Cuba will run out of airline fuel Monday after Trump threatens 30% tariffs on any nation shipping oil to the island
• Mexico immediately halted oil shipments to Cuba to avoid the tariffs, despite humanitarian concerns
• The fuel shortage will force American, Spanish, Panamanian and Mexican airlines to find new routes or refueling methods
• Cuba says it’s willing to negotiate “without pressure,” while Trump demands the communist nation become “freer”

Cuba is running out of jet fuel as President Trump wields tariff threats to pressure other nations into cutting off the communist island’s energy supplies.

Cuban authorities warned airlines Sunday that fuel will be unavailable starting Monday at airports across the island, according to a notice valid until March 11.

The shortage stems from Mr. Trump’s Jan. 29 threat to impose 30% tariffs on goods from any country that sends oil to Cuba. Mexico immediately stopped its oil shipments to avoid economic fallout, though Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has expressed concern about a humanitarian crisis.

The pressure campaign escalated after U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Jan. 3. Venezuela had been Cuba’s major oil supplier.

American, Spanish, Panamanian and Mexican airlines must now consider alternate routes or refueling methods.

Mr. Trump says he wants to strike a deal with Cuba to make it “a freer nation.”

“Cuba is a failing nation,” he said. “Now it doesn’t have Venezuela to prop it up.”

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said his country will negotiate “without pressure or preconditions” and demanded the U.S. respect Cuba’s sovereignty.

Read more:

• Cuba warns it is running out of airline fuel as Trump dials up pressure