Caribbean Update: US Allows Oil Sales to Cuba; DEA Closes DR Office Due to Scandal

M.A. Dworkin

The Caribbean - Amid cries by neighboring countries that there is a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in Cuba caused by Washington’s oil blockade, the Trump Administration has said it will allow the resale of some Venezuelan oil to Cuba in a move that could ease the island’s acute fuel shortage. The U.S. blockade has worsened an energy crisis in Cuba that is hitting power generation and fuel for vehicles, houses and aviation. Venezuela has been the main supplier of crude and fuel to Cuba for the past 25 years.

In a statement issued by the US Department of the Treasury on February 25, 2026, the Department said it would authorize companies seeking licenses to resell Venezuelan oil for “commercial and humanitarian use in Cuba.” The statement also read that the new favorable licensing policy would not cover “persons or entities associated with the Cuban military, intelligence services, or other government institutions.”

Mexico, which had emerged as an alternate supplier to Cuba, halted shipments after the U.S. threatened tariffs on countries that send oil to Cuba. 

The shift in U.S. policy came after Caribbean leaders gathering in Saint Kitts and Nevis for the CARICOM meeting which Secretary of State Marco Rubio attended, expressed alarm at the impacts of the blockade on the communist island nation of 10.9 million people. 

“Humanitarian suffering serves no one,” Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness affirmed solidarity with Cuba as he spoke to the Caribbean region’s main political group. “A prolonged crisis in Cuba will not remain confined to Cuba.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a staunch supporter of Cuba breaking away from its current government, which has been under communist rule since Fidel Castro’s revolution in 1959, addressed the meeting and claimed that the humanitarian crisis had been caused by the Cuban government’s policies, along with economic mismanagement and the lack of a vibrant private sector, not Washington’s blockade. secretary Rubio warned that the sanctions would be snapped back if the oil winds up going to the government or military.

“Cuba needs to change. It needs to change dramatically because it is the only chance that it has to improve the quality of life for its people,” Mr. Rubio told reporters. “It’s a system that is in collapse, and they need to make dramatic reforms.”

Scandal Shutters DEA Office in DR

The U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic has temporarily closed its Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) office in Santo Domingo, following allegations of corruption, specifically involving a supervisor in a visa fraud scheme.

DEA Supervisory Special Agent Meliton Cordero, who had been assigned to the Embassy for six years, was charged with conspiracy to commit bribery and visa fraud. Prosecutors say Mr. Cordero accepted thousands of dollars in exchange for assisting foreign nationals with securing nonimmigration visas that would allow them to visit the U.S. for a temporary period. He is accused of expediting at least 119 visa applications, often coaching individuals for their visa interview with U.S. Consular Officers. 

The closure is a temporary measure during an internal investigation into the abuse of a U.S. visa program for confidential informants.

The office in Santo Domingo is a key site for combating drug trafficking in the Caribbean. The Dominican Republic is a vital partner for the U.S. in fighting narcotics trafficking , particularly as a transit zone for drugs moving from South America to the U.S. and Europe.

Agent Meliton Cordero was arrested for allegedly accepting money to secure nonimmigration visas for foreign nationals. The investigation is being handled by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.  

“This is a disgraceful violation of public trust to use one’s official capacity for personal gain,” said U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Leah F. Campos. “I will not tolerate even the perception of corruption anywhere in the Embassy I lead.”

Prosecutors did not request that Mr. Cordero be detained. He was ordered to surrender his passport.