Cuba denounces U.S. harassment to prevent fuel arrival

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel Friday accused the U.S. government of trying to prevent the arrival of fuel to the Caribbean island.

A Canadian Pacific Railway locomotive pulling a freight train travels along tracks in Alberta, Canada, September 6, 2018. [File Photo: IC]

"Today I want to reveal to the people of Cuba and the world that the U.S. administration has begun to act with greater aggressiveness to prevent the arrival of fuel to Cuba," said the president at a main rally marking the National Rebellion Day.

The rally marked the 66th anniversary of the attacks conducted by forces led by Fidel Castro on the Moncada barracks in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba.

Diaz-Canel said that Washington tries to prevent "by all means" the arrival of tankers in Cuban ports by brutally threatening shipping companies and governments of the countries where the vessels and the companies are registered.

In April, the U.S. Donald Trump administration imposed sanctions on dozens of vessels and companies involved in fuel transportation from Venezuela to Cuba.

"This plan is addressed to impact, even more, the life quality of Cubans, their progress and hopes, with the goal of hurting the Cuban families in their daily life and basic needs, and then accuse the Cuban government of being inefficient," Diaz-Canel said.

From March 2018 to April 2019 alone, the U.S. embargo caused an over 4.3 billion-dollar loss to the island.

He stressed that Cuba has not renounced its will to rebuild a "civilized relationship" with the United States, but "it has to be based on mutual respect despite the differences."