Federal authorities in Florida and Texas have seized over 600,000 gallons of biodiesel bound for Cuba, in what appears to be the first major seizure of its kind since the Trump administration imposed a fuel blockade on the country earlier this year.
The fuel, procured by a fuel importer affiliated with the Cuban government, was valued at more than $2.8 million, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The U.S. government imposed sanctions on that company, ENETEC S.A., in July.
The shipments “reflect a deliberate and coordinated effort to supply” the sanctioned company, José R. Figueroa, the special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Miami, said on Wednesday at a news conference announcing the seizures.
Mr. Figueroa declined to identify the U.S. company or companies involved in the sale, citing an ongoing investigation. Officials did not announce criminal charges, nor identify the country from which the fuel originated.
Cuba produces some fuel on its own, but it largely relies on foreign supplies to power its electric grid and keep the country running.
The Trump administration, seeking to force political and economic change in Cuba, began choking off fuel to the Communist-run island after the capture of the Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro in January. Venezuela provided a majority of Cuba’s fuel. Other countries stopped exporting fuel to the island after President Trump threatened tariffs on their governments.
The ensuing power outages have left Cubans without running refrigerators and lights, and hospitals and schools are unable to fully function.
U.S. officials said that intelligence and an analysis of trade data led to the seizure of 71 shipments totaling 496,000 gallons of biodiesel at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Another 19 shipments totaling 119,000 gallons were seized at the Port of Houston.
The seizures come as diplomatic talks between the United States and Cuba have stalled, disappointing some in Miami’s Cuban exile community who believe political and economic change is not coming fast enough to the island.
Cuba recently put a restructuring plan in place meant to spur more private enterprise and loosen state control of the economy. A top Cuban baseball team, Industriales, this week announced its first ever commercial sponsor — a private-sector distributor of U.S. fuel that opened its first retail outlet in Cuba in June.
The Treasury Department has issued individual licenses that allow fuel to be exported from the United States to private businesses in Cuba. Mr. Figueroa said the seizures, which happened last month, “were not meant to interfere with legitimate humanitarian assistance that supports Cuban families, workers and communities.”
The State Department, in a statement, asserted that it had “broken the regime’s monopoly on fuel, incentivizing and empowering more private enterprise.” The department acknowledged that it “cannot rule out some diversion to regime-connected figures or entities” but vowed to target companies that skirt sanctions.
Enforcement efforts are continuing at sea. Last week, the Coast Guard announced the seizure of a cargo ship with fuel bound for Cuba. During the summer, the Coast Guard seized another ship headed to Cuba carrying 210,000 gallons of fuel.
Experts on the Cuban economy have noted a surge in U.S. private fuel sales to Cuba, raising concerns that supply is ending up under government control. Fuel is now suddenly so plentiful that the price has fallen to $2.50 a liter from $5, Omar Everleny Pérez, a Cuban economist, said in September at a meeting of Cuban economists in Miami.
Some experts say recent data on fuel shipments to Cuba has exposed a lack of clear strategy from the Trump administration, leaving them to question whether these private shipments are part of an intentional effort to prevent a total humanitarian collapse or simply the result of local actors exploiting regulatory loopholes.
“You know creativity and ingenuity are the coins of the Cuban realm,” Michael Bustamante, a Cuba expert at the University of Miami, said in an interview. While official U.S. policy aims to force regime change in Cuba, the large influx of private oil imports undermines this pressure, he said.
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