- Venezuela expresses its support for the island in a statement that conspicuously lacks any mention of oil.
- The US president suggests he will keep ExxonMobil “out” of Venezuela after a comment by its CEO that displeased him.
14ymedio/EFE, Madrid, January 12, 2026 — Confusion reigns regarding the situation in Cuba hours after US President Donald Trump declared that the island would no longer receive money or oil from Venezuela. In brief remarks aboard Air Force One, the president stated he was in contact with Cuban authorities and maintained that news would be forthcoming, information that the regime denied on Monday.
“We are talking with Cuba, and you will know very soon. One of the things I want to take care of, one of the groups I want to protect, are the people who came from Cuba, who were forced to leave under coercion, and today are great citizens of the United States. We have many people who were unjustly expelled from Cuba, so we are going to preserve what is most important right now, which is the people who came from Cuba, who are U.S. citizens or are in our country,” he said.
Trump didn’t mention anything concrete, neither dates nor people involved in the alleged talks, nor any timeframes; but the island’s official press has reported the news as mere speculation. Furthermore, Cubadebate presents the information not as its own, but with Alma Plus TV—a channel linked to the Latin American left—as its source, and it also fails to offer a denial or an alternative version from the regime, as one might expect from a state-run media outlet.
It wasn’t until Monday morning that the Cuban regime’s position became known, and they denied the existence of any such contact. “There are no talks with the US government, except for technical contacts in the area of migration,” Miguel Díaz-Canel wrote in X.
“We have always been willing to hold a serious and responsible dialogue with the various US governments, including the current one, on the basis of sovereign equality, mutual respect, principles of International Law, reciprocal benefit, without interference in internal affairs and with full respect for our independence,” he added.
President Díaz-Canel attributed the excessive migration, which has serious consequences, to the “extreme tightening of the embargo” and the “privileges of the Cuban Adjustment Act.” “They are now victims of the change in policies toward migrants and the betrayal of Miami politicians. There are bilateral migration agreements in force that Cuba scrupulously adheres to. As history demonstrates, for relations between the U.S. and Cuba to move forward, they must be based on international law instead of hostility, threats, and economic coercion,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, the mystery remains about what economic relations with the government of Delcy Rodríguez will be like from now on, which on Sunday released a statement of support for the island but without any practical commitments.
“The relationship between the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela with the Caribbean and the Republic of Cuba has historically been based on brotherhood, solidarity, cooperation and complementarity,” the text states.
Caracas reaffirms its “historical position within the framework of relations with the Republic of Cuba, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and international law, regarding the free exercise of self-determination and national sovereignty.”
Furthermore, it concludes by saying: “Venezuela reaffirms that international relations must be governed by the principles of international law, non-intervention, the sovereign equality of States, and the self-determination of peoples. We reiterate that political and diplomatic dialogue is the only way to peacefully resolve controversies of any nature.”
Beyond politics and diplomacy, the statement omits any reference to the closest link between the two countries and the one at the heart of the controversy: oil.
The government of Delcy Rodríguez has spent the entire week moving in an ambiguity that combines political gestures – from demands for the release of the one she publicly considers the legitimate ruler, Nicolás Maduro, to acts such as the awarding of medals to the Cubans who died defending Maduro – with facts, such as the meeting she will hold with Trump, as confirmed this Sunday by the president.
“We are working very well with the leadership, and we’ll see how it all turns out,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, adding that Rodriguez offered the United States “50 million barrels of oil” that are on their way to the country.
At the moment, it is unknown whether there will be any kind of agreement between the three parties to allow oil to reach Cuba, after Trump said that the island has been “living for years” thanks to Venezuelan money and crude in exchange for “security services” for the “last two dictators (Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro).”
“BUT NO MORE!” Trump exclaimed on his Truth Social network, where he stressed that “most of those Cubans are DEAD from the latest US attack” and Venezuela now has the “most powerful” army in the world, that of the United States, to protect itself.
Cuban authorities responded by asserting that they “do not receive and have never received” monetary or material compensation for security services provided to any country and insisted on demanding that Washington end the “brutal kidnapping” of Maduro and Flores, which they labeled “illegal” and a “judicial and media farce”.
Cuban authorities responded by stating that they “do not receive and have never received” monetary or material compensation for security services provided to any country.
Furthermore, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez asserted Cuba’s right to import fuel from markets “willing to export it,” as well as its right to develop its trade relations “without interference or subordination to unilateral coercive measures by the United States.” “Law and justice are on Cuba’s side,” he declared.
What is known is that the US oil companies Chevron and Shell, the Spanish company Repsol and the Italian company ENI will “immediately increase” their investment in Venezuela, according to US Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
“We had Chevron, Shell, Repsol, and ENI—four of the world’s largest oil companies—saying, ‘We will immediately begin to increase our investments and grow our production.’ I have a team of American oil prospectors who say they’re going there this week,” he told Fox News.
Wright’s remarks come after Friday’s meeting between Trump and oil executives at the White House, where the president asserted that there will be an investment of “at least $100 billion of their own capital, not government money,” to revitalize Venezuela’s infrastructure.
However, Exxon CEO Darren Woods opined that the South American country “is uninvestable today,” something that has earned him threats from Trump.
“I didn’t like Exxon’s response. We have many who want it. I would probably be inclined to leave Exxon out. I didn’t like their response. They’re trying to be clever,” said the US president.
Wright, for his part, asserted that Exxon’s opinion is “atypical,” stating that there are “at least a dozen” companies ready to return to Venezuela. This includes “five large” companies that are already “there and will quickly increase their production, and probably between six and a dozen others” that are “ready to enter.”
“I didn’t like Exxon’s response. We have many who want it. I’d probably lean towards leaving Exxon out. I didn’t like their response. They’re trying to be clever.”
“So the speed at which we will see investment and change in the trajectory of Venezuela’s production is impressive,” the secretary said.
Energy analysts have expressed skepticism about Trump’s plan for Venezuela, which apparently has the world’s largest reserves, equivalent to 364 billion barrels or 17% of the total, but production that only represents 1% globally, according to data from Standard & Poor’s (S&P).
Among the reservations cited were the obsolescence of Venezuela’s infrastructure and political uncertainty. In this context, Trump declared a “national emergency” this Saturday to protect Venezuelan oil revenues held in U.S. Treasury accounts, preventing Venezuelan creditors from claiming the funds.
Following the oil expropriation, there have been nearly 60 arbitrations against Venezuela since 2000 for an estimated total value of $30 billion, almost 15% of its international debt, according to data from the Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) at Columbia University.
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