Venezuela Cites 'Brotherhood and Solidarity' With Cuba After Trump Signals End to Oil Support

Venezuela's interim leadership publicly reaffirmed its relationship with Cuba after U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington had ended the flow of Venezuelan oil and financial support to the island.

Caracas said in a statement that its ties with Havana are rooted in a "historic position" based on sovereignty, self-determination and international law. The statement did not directly address the economic impact of Trump's announcement but emphasized political principles governing the bilateral relationship.

"The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ratifies its historic position in the framework of relations with the Republic of Cuba, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and international law, the free exercise of self-determination and national sovereignty," the statement said.

It added that relations between Venezuela, the Caribbean and Cuba have historically been built on "brotherhood, solidarity, cooperation and complementarity." The government said international relations should be guided by non-intervention, sovereign equality among states and respect for the will of peoples, concluding with a call for political and diplomatic dialogue as the only means to resolve disputes peacefully.

The statement followed comments by Trump on Sunday in which he said the United States had cut off Venezuelan oil and money to Cuba and urged the Cuban government to reach an agreement with Washington. "THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, adding that Cuba had lived "for many years on large amounts of oil and money from Venezuela."

Trump argued that the arrangement, under which Venezuela supplied subsidized oil to Cuba in exchange for professional and security services, had come to an end following recent developments in Venezuela and the region.

Cuba has long depended on Venezuelan crude to sustain its energy system, particularly since a cooperation agreement signed in 2000 between Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez, as Infobae explains. That flow has declined sharply in recent years amid Venezuela's collapsing oil industry and tightening international sanctions, contributing to widespread power outages and fuel shortages on the island.

Cuban officials have rejected Trump's remarks, with the country's president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, posting on X that "Cuba is a free, independent, and sovereign nation" and "nobody dictates what we do," Diaz-Canel said.