Cuba warns airlines it will run out of jet fuel after Trump threats

The Cuban government announced that international flights would no longer be able to refuel there because of aviation fuel shortages, after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on any country that sells oil to the island.

Cuba's leadership said Sunday that the country will run out of aviation fuel starting Monday, which could disrupt airlines operating there, according to two sources cited by the Spanish wire service EFE.

All of Cuba's international airports are expected to be affected by the jet fuel shortage, which could last about a month.

Since the Trump administration's January 3 military operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a longtime supporter of Cuba's government, it has sought to strengthen the US position on Cuba.

In a late January executive order, Trump described the Cuban regime as posing "an unusual and extraordinary threat," saying that declaration of a national emergency was necessary."

According to the president, human rights abuses, communist rule and Cuba's ties to countries such as China, Russia and Iran contribute to regional instability "through migration and violence."

Trump said during the announcement that the US could impose tariffs on nations that directly or indirectly provide Cuba with oil.

Cuba meets about one third of its energy demand with domestic production, according to the source. For the remainder, it depends on imports, primarily from Mexico and, to a lesser degree, Russia, with Venezuela accounting for around 30 percent of total supplies in 2025.

This week, the Cuban government unveiled a strict emergency plan that includes closing some hotels, cutting back hours at public offices and hospitals and banning the sale of diesel in an effort to subsist without imported crude oil and its derivatives.