People watch as firefighters put out a barricade set up by residents protesting against prolonged power outages in Havana, Cuba, on Wednesday, May 13, 2026.
| Photo Credit: AP
Cuba is open to reviewing a $100 million U.S. aid proposal, Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said on Thursday (May 14, 2026), as the island grapples with a severe energy shortage.
“We are ready to hear the details of the proposal and how it would be implemented,” Mr. Rodriguez said on X, a day after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio renewed an offer to provide $100 million in aid with conditions.
Cuba was hit by worsening power outages on Thursday (May 14, 2026) as the island’s communist government said oil reserves had run out and rare protests broke out around the capital Havana.
Eastern Cuba was plunged on Thursday (MaY 14) into the latest of regular electricity shutdowns affecting the whole country, while people protested against power outages in neighborhoods around Havana, in the west of the island.
Oil reserves sent by Russia have now “run out,” Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy told state television, describing the situation as “very tense.”
“The heat continues to rise, and the impact of the blockade is indeed causing us significant harm… because we are still not receiving fuel.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio renewed an offer of $100 million in aid on the condition that the assistance be distributed by the Catholic Church, bypassing the government.
Published – May 14, 2026 10:01 pm IST
