Oil refinery blaze hits Cuba as fuel crisis deepens

A fire at an oil refinery in Cuba has been brought under control quickly, as the country faces a deepening fuel crisis.

Black smoke clouds could be seen billowing from the Ñico López Refinery in the capital, Havana, on Friday.

No-one was injured and an investigation into the blaze has been established, Cuba's energy ministry said in a post on X. The fire occurred close to where two oil tankers had been moored in Havana Bay.

A fuel shortage in Cuba has been worsened by the US blocking oil shipments from Venezuela, a long-standing ally in the region, to the island.

Venezuela was previously believed to have sent it around 35,000 barrels of oil a day before the US military captured former president Nicolás Maduro in a raid on the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, on 3 January.

The US also confiscated Venezuelan oil tankers, cutting off key supplies of fuel to Cuba, and pledged new tariffs on countries that sell oil to Cuba.

US President Donald Trump has urged Cuban leaders to "make a deal" or face unspecified consequences, after flows of oil and money from Venezuela were cut off.

Electricity cuts have impacted hospital emergency wards, dialysis patients and pumping stations amid the latest supply shortfalls.

Cuba also has a shortage of aviation fuel, leading several airlines to suspend services to the Caribbean island nation, while some countries, including the UK, have warned against non-essential travel there.

"Authorities have introduced fuel rationing, scaled back public services, and made temporary changes to healthcare, education, transport and tourism operations to conserve severely limited energy supplies," the UK Foreign Office warned recently.

As the oil embargo continues to make life and access to essentials difficult in Cuba, two Mexican ships carrying 800 tonnes of humanitarian aid arrived in Havana Bay on Thursday.

United Nations human rights experts have described Washington's restrictions on Cuba's oil imports as an "extreme form of unilateral economic coercion".

UN human rights chief Volker Türk said he was "extremely concerned" about the worsening crisis in Cuba.

The US and Cuba have had a strained relationship since the communist Fidel Castro overthrew a US-backed government in 1959. US economic and trade embargoes on Cuba have been in place since 1960.

While steps were taken to improve diplomatic relations, particularly under former US President Barack Obama, the Trump administration has reversed many of these moves.