Cuba's oil lifeline jeopardized after 32 officers die in Venezuela

Wednesday 07 January 2026 - 15:50

By: Dakir Madiha

Cuba's oil lifeline jeopardized after 32 officers die in Venezuela

Cuba announced Tuesday the deaths of 32 military officers killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured President Nicolás Maduro, as the island nation braces for the potential collapse of its primary energy source and deepening economic crisis. The Cuban government released names, ranks, and ages of the deceased—ranging from 26 to 60—who served in the Revolutionary Armed Forces and Interior Ministry. Authorities declared two days of mourning, stating the personnel "fulfilled their duty with dignity and heroism, falling after fierce resistance in direct combat against assailants or following bombardment of facilities."

Losing Venezuelan oil poses an existential threat to Cuba's struggling economy. Venezuela currently supplies Cuba with 30,000 to 35,000 barrels per day, covering 50 percent of the island's oil deficit, according to Jorge Piñón, energy expert at the University of Texas at Austin's Energy Institute. This accounts for about 70 percent of Cuba's total oil imports, with Mexico and Russia providing the rest. President Trump predicted Sunday that Cuba will "go down" without Venezuelan support. "Cuba has no revenue left. They got all their revenue from Venezuela, Venezuelan oil. They're not getting any of it," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose parents emigrated from Cuba, made clear weakening the Cuban regime ranks as a key goal. "If I lived in Havana and was part of the government, I'd be at least a little concerned," Rubio said following the Venezuela operation. Cuba's economy has deteriorated sharply in recent years. The country's GDP contracted over 4 percent in 2025, with rampant inflation and an economy President Miguel Díaz-Canel recently described as "partially paralyzed" in a speech to the National Assembly. Power outages lasting up to 20 hours daily have become routine outside Havana, alongside severe shortages of food, medicine, and fuel.

At an Organization of American States meeting Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador Leandro Rizzuto defended the Venezuela operation as a "targeted law enforcement action" against an "indicted criminal." Colombian Vice Foreign Minister Mauricio Jaramillo condemned it as a "clear violation of international law" setting an "extremely worrying precedent." Ricardo Zúñiga, a former U.S. official who worked on Cuba policy under Obama and Trump, highlighted prevailing Republican views. "Republicans and Rubio believe cutting Venezuelan oil will collapse Cuba's economy, potentially sparking popular uprising," he told The New York Times. "What we've seen in Cuba suggests there seems to be no limit to how bad things can get without provoking uprising."