By Kanishka Singh and Dave Sherwood
WASHINGTON/HAVANA, Jan 29 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump threatened new tariffs on Thursday on countries supplying oil to Cuba, escalating a pressure campaign against the Communist-run island and long-time foe of the United States.
The move, authorized by an executive order under a national emergency declaration, stopped short of specifying tariff rates or singling out any countries whose products could face U.S. tariffs.
Cuba’s state-run media shot back shortly after Trump’s announcement, warning that the order threatened to paralyze electricity generation, agricultural production, water supply and health services on an island already suffering a crippling economic crisis.
“What is the goal? A genocide of the Cuban people,” Cuba’s government said in a statement on the nightly TV newscast. “All spheres of life will be suffocated by the U.S. government.”
Emboldened by the U.S. military’s seizure of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a deadly raid earlier this month, Trump has repeatedly talked of acting against Cuba and pressuring its leadership.
Trump said this week that “Cuba will be failing pretty soon,” adding that Venezuela, once the island’s top oil supplier, has not recently sent oil or money to Cuba.
Reuters exclusively reported last week that Mexico – Cuba’s top supplier after Venezuela cut off shipments in December – was also reviewing whether to continue sending oil amid growing fears it could face reprisals from the United States over the policy.
Trump has used tariff threats as a foreign policy tool throughout his second term in office.
Cuba’s president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, said this month that Washington had no moral authority to force a deal on Cuba after Trump suggested the Communist-run island should strike an agreement with the U.S..
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Jasper Ward in Washington and Dave Sherwood in Havana, Editing by Ross Colvin and Lisa Shumaker)
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