U.S. acknowledges fuel sold to Cuba's private sector could be diverted

The U.S. State Department acknowledged that it cannot rule out some fuel exported for Cuba's private sector ending up with people or entities linked to the government. A department spokesperson also said Washington would continue acting against efforts to evade sanctions. The statement identifies a risk of diversion but does not claim that every shipment follows that path.

The spokesperson said the Cuban government ‘must now resort to subterfuge and illegality’ and argued that it obtains only part of the fuel entering the country rather than controlling the entire market. The official said the United States would maintain pressure on sanctions evasion and target companies supplying fuel in support of those efforts.

Federal authorities in Florida and Texas seized more than 620,000 gallons of biodiesel valued at about $2.8 million. The shipment was destined for Enetec, a Cuban state company listed by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control as sanctioned since July 13. The operation is a concrete case involving fuel bound for a sanctioned state entity.

An invoice dated September 21 records a transaction of more than 23,000 liters of gasoline between Cimex-Mariel and an Oro Negro service station. The invoice and the seizure concern different products: the document records gasoline, while the shipment stopped in Florida and Texas was biodiesel. It adds another data point about fuel transactions in Cuba without changing the nature of the seized cargo.

The U.S. statement addresses the possibility that fuel exported for private businesses may reach government-linked entities. The seizure, separately, involved a biodiesel shipment destined for a sanctioned state company. These are different facts within the broader debate over fuel destinations and U.S. sanctions. The spokesperson framed diversion as a risk that cannot be dismissed and reaffirmed action against attempts to evade restrictions.