Cuba prepares for U.S. oil blockade
Feb. 9, 2026
The United States’ oil blockade on Cuba has prompted the Caribbean island to develop several policies–including rationing measures–ahead of the expected shortage, reports Reuters. According to government ministers, the rationed oil supply will be used to fuel key sectors, including agriculture, education, water supply, healthcare, and defense. Cuba has long depended on receiving fuel from Venezuela, its closest regional ally and primary oil provider, though recent U.S. policies to block oil shipments from Venezuela to the Caribbean island have left the nation with a significant shortage.
Commerce Minister Oscar Perez-Oliva explained that the government is also planning to supply fuel to the tourism and export sectors in an effort to maintain a necessary level of foreign exchange. “If we don’t have income, then we will not overcome this situation,” he said. The country has long depended on fuel imports from its regional ally Venezuela. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced that Mexico will ship humanitarian aid to Cuba as she continues to negotiate with the U.S. to lessen the blockade. The first two boats, carrying over 800 tons of aid, departed on Sunday, with another 15,000 tons of aid still pending shipment. (Al Jazeera, Bloomberg).
“After years of U.S. presidents trying various economic pressure tactics to hasten the demise of the Cuban government, the Trump administration’s cutoff of fuel has raised the ante drastically because oil keeps the country — from public transit to factories to farms — running,” write Frances Robles and David C. Adams in the New York Times. Other U.S. policies such as limiting Cuba’s access to hard currency from tourism and medical missions abroad have also helped hasten the government’s decline, leading some analysts to believe that the country’s government may fall before the end of the year.
In an op-ed in the Miami Herald, Andrés Oppenheimer writes that, “In the past, Cuba’s dictatorship has always managed to find a savior in times of need, whether it was Russia, Venezuela or Mexico. This time, there is no savior in sight, and the lights are rapidly going out on the island.” The Washington Post editorial board, for its part, argued that Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel’s only option is to negotiate his resignation with the United States.
Mexico
The Mexican Attorney General’s Office announced it had discovered a body whose “characteristics [matched] of one of the people reported as missing” from a mine in Sinaloa, according to AP News. Ten people had been abducted from the facilities in late January, with authorities suspecting the involvement of cartel members.
Haiti
The New York Times outlines recent political maneuverings in Haiti, a country mired in political instability and whose transitional presidential council’s mandate expired on Saturday. U.S.-backed Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, is expected to remain in power as the country prepares to hold general elections tentatively scheduled for August of this year. “The coming days will be demanding,” said Fils-Aimé in a speech on Saturday. “I don’t promise miracles.” (AP News)
U.S.-LatAm Relations
U.S. President Donald Trump met with recently-elected Honduran President Nasry Asfura at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday, where the two reportedly discussed security-related issues including drug trafficking and illegal migration, according to Reuters.
China-LatAm
“China’s green-tech engagement with Latin America embodies both promise and peril,” writes Yanran Xu in Americas Quarterly. “On one hand, it delivers much-needed patient capital, technology, and policy momentum for a region that has struggled to satisfy its demand for green investment. On the other, it brings the risk of unfavorable deals and ESG harms. The future of this engagement will hinge not on the quantity of investments, but on the quality of the institutions managing them.”
Bolivia
Rodrigo Paz’s first 90 days in office as President of Bolivia defied all expectations, writes Eduardo A. Gamarra in Americas Quarterly. Despite not having a congressional majority, a lack of political consensus, and societal unrest, Paz has managed to implement a sweeping reform plan and restored diplomatic relations with the United States and multilateral lenders to help improve the country’s economy.
Venezuela
On Sunday, Delcy Rodriguez’s government in Venezuela freed two high-profile political prisoners, opposition politician Juan Pablo Guanipa and lawyer Perkins Rocha. The government has released 383 political prisoners since January 8; at least 30 were released on Sunday, according to human rights group Foro Penal. (AP News, Reuters)
Colombia
On Friday, President Gustavo Petro announced that Santiago Gallón, an alleged drug trafficker tied to the murder of Colombian soccer player Andrés Escobar in 1994, days after Escobar had scored an own goal during the 1994 World Cup, had been shot dead in Mexico. AP News reports that a body believed to be Gallón was found on Wednesday, according to the state of Mexico’s prosecutor’s office.
The latest poll for the upcoming presidential elections, published by AtlasIntel, has both leading candidates in a statistical tie, reports Bloomberg. Leftist senator Iván Cepeda and conservative lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella received 31.4% and 32.1% of support, respectively, with the following candidate Sergio Fajardo coming in a distant third with 7.6%.
Argentina
The U.S. on Friday announced a new deal that would increase Argentine beef exports to the U.S. to $800 million, despite pushback from Republicans and the agricultural sector, reports the Guardian. The increase in imports is unlikely to significantly lower beef prices, according to several economists.
In the Financial Times, Ciara Nugent lays out the ways in which Milei’s proposed labor reform is at odds with the priorities of the country’s unions, which have historically played an influential role in Argentine society. Unions argue that the proposed reforms–including reducing the right to strike, extending employee probation periods, and allowing a working day of up to 12 hours, among others–would give companies too much power.
Critter Corner
A decades-long conservation has led to more than 100,000 greater Bermuda snails (Poecilozonites bermudensis), once feared extinct, to be bred and released back into the North Atlantic archipelago, reports the Guardian. The species has been confirmed as safe from extinction.