Vladimir Putin sends 715,000 barrels of oil to Cuba as country faces blackouts and food shortages

Russia is helping Cuba through its food and power shortage crisis

Vladimir Putin is helping beleaguered Cuba by sending the Caribbean nation thousands of barrels of oil. The communist nation is currently experiencing mass power blackouts and food shortages and the Russian leaders’ oil donation is intended to alleviate the problems impacting the island country.

A huge ship with 715,000 barrels of oil will arrive at the Cuban port of Matanzas tomorrow (March 29). This is the first time Russia has sent oil to Cuba in more than a year.

Cuba has faced food and electricity shortages and this has prompted a wave of street protests and migration from the country.. “What we need is for the fuel, wheat and fertilizer Russia has been offering to get here as quickly as possible,” said Omar Everleny Perez, a Cuban economist, when speaking to Bloomberg.

“There’s obviously a lot of political goodwill between Russia and Cuba, but in practice we’re not seeing the benefits on the street yet,” he also said, reports the Daily Star.

Cuba is going through economic turmoil, comparable to when the Soviet Union ended. The leaders in Cuba say that their economic issues are linked to US trade embargoes which were imposed after the 1959 revolution.

Cuba recently ppealed to the UN for special milk powder for children. This was a break from the norm for the communist country, whose outlook is typically independent.

Jorge Pinon, an expert at the University of Texas Energy Institute, said the Russian help will meet demand “for about 35 days.” The ship set sail from the Baltic coast on March 9 and its oil will start helping Havana’s refineries by the end of this week.

Countries like Brazil and the Caribbean Community have asked the US to relax sanctions set after 1959. But that has been described as a “hard sell” because former President Trump hinted he’d try to change Cuba’s leaders if he got back in power.

“I want to express my admiration and support for all of the brave people of Cuba, who are standing up against the vile communist regime,” Trump shared in a video on his ‘Truth Social’ page. “It’s not easy and we appreciate it and it’s gonna be changed.”

“Under Cuba’s brutal and corrupt dictators, the Cuban people are suffering terrible food shortages, energy blackouts, poverty, political repression, and religious persecution,” he continued.

Cuba’s problems have been compounded by allies Venezuela, who previously helped the communist nation, cutting down fuel supplies to about 35,000 barrels a day from 80,000 in 2020.

At the same time, Mexico, another ally of Cuba, is being pushed to charge for the 25,000 barrels of oil it gives for free every day.

On the other hand, business between Moscow and Havana is flourishing since they agreed on a deal last year to increase Russia’s role in Cuba’s economy.

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