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Donald Trump said on February 1: "We're talking to the people from Cuba, the highest people in Cuba, to see what happens. I think we’re going to make a deal." But according to Drop Site News, no such talks are taking place.

Meanwhile, in Cuba, the U.S.’ de facto oil blockade has already led to a shutdown of some essential services. Belly of the Beast spoke with Cubans about the fuel crisis and their concerns for the future.

Also:

Interview With Cuban Jazz Legend Arturo O'Farrill
With Jet Fuel Scarce, Canada and Russia Cancel Flights
Mexico Sends Food — But Not Oil
U.S. Offers Cuba “Aid” While Crushing its Economy
Guatemala Sends Cuban Medical Mission Packing
UN Warns of Humanitarian Collapse

Rubio Reportedly Deceiving Trump About Cuba Talks

Rumors and reports have circulated in the international press and on social media that Alejandro Castro, the son of former Cuban President Raúl Castro, has been representing Cuba in negotiations with the United States in Mexico.

But these reports and Trump’s claims appear to be "fake news": There have been no high-level negotiations between Cuba and the United States, according to a Drop Site News article published on Monday based on interviews with five anonymous Cuban and U.S. officials.

Trump is “saying that because that’s what Marco is telling him,” a senior Trump administration official told Drop Site.

The official added that Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s strategy is to pretend negotiations are dragging on so they can later be dismissed as pointless — with Havana taking the blame. Once diplomacy is portrayed as exhausted, regime change would appear as the only remaining option.

If Trump were to reach an agreement with Cuba, Rubio would face a choice: abandon the cause that has defined him and his hardline Cuban-American supporters or step down as secretary of state.

Drop Site's reporting has been corroborated by The New York Times. An article published on Sunday reports that there have been no substantive negotiations between Cuba and the Trump administration. An anonymous senior State Department official told The Times that there have been no talks about changes to the island's political or economic system. Communication between the two governments, the source said, is mostly about technical issues, such as repatriation flights.

Last week, Cuba’s Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío said the two countries have had “some exchanges of messages” that were “linked” to the highest levels of government in Cuba, but have not established a "bilateral dialogue."

In televised remarks last Thursday, President Miguel Díaz-Canel said Cuba remains open to dialogue with the United States, but the country's sovereignty isn't on the table.

"The Only Victims Are the People of Cuba"

In a recent article co-published by Belly of the Beast and Drop Site News, Cubans describe a deteriorating situation on the island after Trump imposed an executive order on January 29 that amounts to an oil blockade.

“Everything is going to get even worse,” Eduardo Riviera, a 28-year-old waiter in Havana, told Belly of the Beast. “There will be more power outages, less freedom of movement for people. Many businesses will close, leading to greater food shortages, higher prices, and so on — a chain of problems with no end in sight.”

Already, hospitals are reducing services. Havana’s Institute of Gastroenterology has shuttered. State-run grocery stores have shortened their hours. Public transportation has mostly shut down. University students are studying from home.

Cuba has announced a two-pronged approach: In the short term, a nationwide energy-saving plan prioritizes fuel and electricity for vital services. Over the medium term, the country will expand its use of solar power.

President Miguel Díaz-Canel said Cuba now produces over a third of its electricity via solar power during daylight hours.

Read the article

Interview With Cuban Jazz Legend

According to Grammy-winning pianist and composer Arturo O’Farrill, you can’t understand jazz without Cuba.

He sat down with Belly of the Beast for an exclusive interview during the 41st International Jazz Plaza Festival and spoke about how Afro-Cuban influences remain central to jazz.

For over two decades, O’Farrill has been returning to Cuba, the place of his birth, trying to use music to build bridges. It's not been without cost.

“I’ve killed my musical career twenty times with my political opinions, with my social work coming to Cuba,” he told us. “There are very famous Cuban musicians who hate me. They write very bad things to me, but I don’t care … I do everything for my people.”

With Jet Fuel Scarce, Canada and Russia Cancel Flights

The Cuban government told airlines on Monday the country is running so low on jet fuel that it has to stop refueling planes from international carriers.

Cuba’s civil aviation authority says airports will remain operational, but airlines cannot count on being able to refuel. The official aviation notice is valid for a month.

The jet fuel shortage is forcing airlines operating long-haul routes to refuel in nearby third countries or even cancel flights.

Canadian airlines Air Canada, WestJet Group and Air Transat have since announced that flights to Cuba will be suspended. Canada is by far the island’s leading source of tourists.

After Canada, Russia sends the second most tourists to Cuba. Russian airlines Rossiya and Nordwind also announced they will halt flights, after evacuating Russian tourists from the island.

The decline in tourism will be another major economic blow.

“When Canadian airlines cancel flights because Cuba has been deliberately deprived of fuel, they become collateral damage in Trump’s economic war,” Isaac Saney, a Cuba and Black Studies historian at Dalhousie University, wrote in a Facebook post. “This is an immediate and direct assault on Canadian economic sovereignty and independence. No foreign power has the right to dictate where Canadian companies may fly, who Canadians may visit, or with whom Canada may trade.”

Mexico Sends Food — But Not Oil

Since Trump’s executive order two weeks ago, which threatens to impose additional tariffs on countries that send oil to Cuba, oil shipments from Mexico have stopped.

Mexico and Venezuela were Cuba’s two main oil suppliers. Now, neither is sending tankers to the island.

On Thursday, two vessels from the Mexican Navy carrying humanitarian aid docked in Cuba. The aid includes more than 800 tons of food, powdered milk and personal hygiene products. Mexico’s foreign ministry said it will soon dispatch another 1,500 tons of aid.

Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum this week said that the U.S. policy of “strangling” the Cuban people is “unjust.” She added that her government is talking to Washington to look for ways to continue sending fuel to Cuba without facing economic reprisals.

U.S. Offers Cuba “Aid” While Crushing its Economy

The U.S. announced last week $6 million in aid to be delivered by the Catholic Church and the Catholic charity group Caritas.

The aid is meant primarily for people living in eastern Cuba who are still grappling with the effects of Hurricane Maria, which hit the island in October. The U.S. previously sent $3 million in hurricane-related aid — two months after Melissa struck Cuba. It’s a drop in the bucket compared to what’s needed for hurricane relief. According to the UN, around $74 million is necessary to meet immediate needs in the areas of health, water, sanitation, shelter and education.

The hypocrisy is glaring: The Trump administration is sending rice, beans, pasta, cans of tuna and solar lamps to some Cuban families while it engineers a humanitarian crisis to exact collective punishment on the entire population.

Guatemala Sends Cuban Medical Mission Packing

Guatemala’s health ministry said it will gradually send home the Cuban medical brigade working in the country, ending a nearly 30-year program. The brigade is made up of 412 medical workers, including 333 doctors, who serve patients throughout Guatemala’s health care system.

Over the past year, the Trump administration has coerced Latin American countries to sever ties with Cuba’s internationalist medical missions — a key source of income for the island — by restricting visas for Cuban officials and foreign government officials linked to the medical teams.

Paraguay, the Bahamas and Guyana have all recently ended their medical agreements with Cuba. Guyana said it will hire Cuban doctors directly rather than through an agreement with the Cuban government.

UN Warns of Humanitarian Collapse

In response to Trump’s recent executive order that threatens to impose additional tariffs on countries that provide oil to Cuba, the UN warned last week of a humanitarian collapse in Cuba.

“The Secretary-General is extremely concerned about the humanitarian situation in Cuba, which will worsen, and if not collapse, if its oil needs go unmet,” said UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric. He noted that the UN General Assembly has been calling for an end to the U.S. embargo for more than three decades.

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