WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump vowed Monday (Mar 16) to “take” Cuba as the communist island plunged into darkness under a total power blackout linked to a crippling oil embargo imposed by Washington.
After nearly seven decades defying the United States, Havana’s communist authorities are under massive pressure from a Trump administration determined to make history.
“You know, all my life I’ve been hearing about the United States and Cuba. When will the United States do it?” Trump told reporters at the White House.
“I do believe I’ll be … having the honour of taking Cuba,” Trump said.
“Whether I free it, take it – think I could do anything I want with it, you want to know the truth. They’re a very weakened nation right now.”
It was one of Trump’s most explicit threats and came as the Caribbean island of 9.6 million people grappled with yet another major power cut.
The blackout resulted from a “complete shutdown of the national grid,” Union Nacional Electrica de Cuba (UNE) said in a statement, adding that work had begun to restore electricity flow.
Cuba’s ageing electricity generation system is in shambles, with daily power outages of up to 20 hours the norm in parts of the island.
But since the US ouster of Cuba’s top ally, Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela, on Jan 3, the island’s economy has been hammered further as Trump maintains a de facto oil blockade.
No oil has been imported to the island since Jan 9, hitting the power sector while also forcing airlines to curtail flights to the island, a blow to the all-important tourism sector.
In a bid to relieve economic pressure – and meet US demands – a senior economic official in Cuba announced Monday that Cuban exiles would now be able to invest and own businesses there.
“Cuba is open to having a fluid commercial relationship with US companies” and “also with Cubans residing in the United States and their descendants,” Oscar Perez-Oliva, who is foreign trade minister and also deputy prime minister, told NBC News.