US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a press conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC.
- Cuba insisted that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio lied about the blockade on the island nation.
- Rubio argued that Cuba was no longer getting free oil from Venezuela.
- China expressed support for Cuba.
Cuba on Tuesday accused US Secretary of State Marco Rubio of lying when he denied that the United States was carrying out an oil blockade on Cuba.
Cuba has been suffering from an energy crisis since January, when US forces seized the Venezuelan president and Cuban ally, Nicolas Maduro, and Washington threatened tariffs on countries that send crude to the communist-led island.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez wrote on X that Rubio “has simply chosen to lie”, and that he “contradicts the President and the White House Spokesperson”.
Rodriguez was responding to comments made by Rubio at the White House hours before.
“There’s no oil blockade on Cuba, per se,” Rubio said while guest-hosting the daily White House press briefing.
“Here’s what’s happening with Cuba, okay? Cuba used to get free oil from Venezuela; used to give them a bunch of free oil,” Rubio said.
“They would take, like, 60% of that oil and resell it for cash. It wouldn’t even go to benefit the people.”
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Rubio added: “So the only blockade that’s happened is the Cubans have decided, I mean, the Venezuelans have decided we’re not giving you free oil anymore.”
Rodriguez also denounced additional sanctions against Cuba’s energy sector announced by US President Donald Trump on 1 May.
“The secretary knows full well the harm and suffering he is causing the Cuban people today,” he added.
Q: The U.S. president signed an executive order on May 1 to expand sanctions against Cuba, accusing Cuba of continuing to constitute a threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States. On the same day, the Cuban foreign minister said that the U.S.’s illegal… pic.twitter.com/UimLFYiTaE
— CHINA MFA Spokesperson 中国外交部发言人 (@MFA_China) May 5, 2026So far, Washington has only allowed the arrival, at the end of March, of a Russian oil tanker.
According to Trump, it was a one-off shipment.
Reuters reported that Rubio on Tuesday said that the status quo in Cuba was unacceptable, adding that the US would address it, but not today.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Rubio said that the US would also like to give more aid to Cuba and distribute it through the church.
Trump, seeking to put more pressure on Havana after ousting Venezuela’s leader, signed an executive order on Friday broadening US sanctions against the Cuban government, two White House officials told Reuters.
From Miami to the world stage, @SecRubio is helping lead a new path forward for Latin America and real hope for a free Cuba.
And today, he said it clearly once again.
For decades, the Cuban regime screamed “blockade” while living off Venezuela’s oil and keeping it from its own… https://t.co/FvE5N1Yt7g
“The United States has intensified its illegal unilateral sanctions against Cuba,” China’s foreign ministry said, criticising the move as “seriously violating” the basic norms of international relations.
“China ... urges the United States to immediately end the embargo and sanctions against Cuba and any form of coercive pressure,” it added in a statement, saying they violated the Cuban people’s right to existence and development.
China backs Cuba’s efforts to safeguard national sovereignty and security and resolutely opposes interference in its internal affairs, the ministry added.
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