The Cuban Interior Ministry has said that border guards killed four gunmen and wounded six more on a speedboat bearing a Florida registration off the coast of Cuba\u2019s Villa Clara province.<\/p>\n
The rare clash off Cuba\u2019s coast, which took place on Tuesday, comes at a moment of heightened tensions between the United States and Cuba<\/a> during an oil embargo that has led to an energy and humanitarian crisis on the island.<\/p>\n One border guard was injured in an exchange of gunfire, according to the ministry.<\/p>\n The Cuban embassy in the US said in a post on social media: \u201cIn the face of current challenges, Cuba reaffirms its determination to protect its territorial waters, based on the principle that national defense is a fundamental pillar of the Cuban State in safeguarding its sovereignty and ensuring stability in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n The Trump administration has moderately eased an embargo on the delivery of oil from Venezuela to Cuba due to the growing energy and humanitarian crisis on the island that has been exacerbated by a US blockade<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Treasury Department on Wednesday said it would now allow American and some international companies to resell Venezuelan-origin oil and petroleum products in Cuba, opening a potential lifeline between Cuban households and private businesses that have been devastated by the cutoff of fuel imports from Venezuela<\/a>.<\/p>\n The unusual guidance was made in \u201csolidarity with the Cuban people\u201d and was targeted at efforts to \u201cimprove living conditions and support independent economic activity\u201d, the Treasury Department said.<\/p>\n Mexican navy ship departs with humanitarian aid bound for Cuba. Photograph: Yahir Ceballos\/Reuters<\/p>\n Tensions have soared between Washington and Havana since the US launched an operation in January to capture Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, removing one of Cuba\u2019s chief allies<\/a> in the region.<\/p>\n Administration officials led by secretary of state Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants and a hawkish opponent of the Communist Cuban government, have called for additional US pressure on Havana at a time when the US is flexing its muscle throughout Latin America.<\/p>\n The US cut a major lifeline to Cuba in the wake of its operation to capture Maduro, taking control of the export of Caracas\u2019s substantial oil production. Before the raid against Maduro, Venezuela was a key supplier of oil to Cuba. The US has also threatened to slap tariffs on other critical suppliers such as Mexico to halt deliveries of oil and fuel to Cuba.<\/p>\n It is not yet clear how the new guidance will be enforced. The directives from the US Treasury and Commerce departments said that oil and petroleum products could be sold to businesses and private households but not to any government institutions, effectively relying on the Cuban government to respect the arrangement.<\/p>\n \u201cThis favourable licensing policy is directed towards transactions that support the Cuban people, including the Cuban private sector (e.g., exports for commercial and humanitarian use in Cuba),\u201d the guidance read, but banned transactions with \u201cthe Cuban military, intelligence services, or other government institutions\u201d.<\/p>\n The embargo has led to an acute energy crisis on the island. Much of the country is affected by blackouts which can last from 12 to 20 hours a day. Regional leaders have warned that the blockade and resulting economic crisis could affect migration, security and economic stability elsewhere in the Caribbean<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mexico\u2019s foreign ministry announced on Wednesday that it had sent a second shipment of humanitarian aid on Tuesday, including beans and powdered milk. Canada for the first time also announced it provide would US $6.7m in food aid through the United Nations, rather than the Cuban government.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is Canadian foreign policy,\u201d said Canadian foreign affairs minister Anita Anand. \u201cWe are focused on the humanitarian situation.\u201d<\/p>\n The announcement came as Rubio was reassuring leaders at a meeting of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) on St Kitts and Nevis. The Jamaican prime minister and the outgoing Caricom chair, Andrew Holness, has said he supports \u201cconstructive dialogue between Cuba and the US aimed at de-escalation, reform and stability<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address. Photograph: Kenny Holston\/EPA<\/p>\n About 10% of Cuban oil has also been sourced from Russia. In recent months, the US has targeted Russia\u2019s \u201cdark fleet\u201d, a network of hundreds of tankers that move oil around the world in breach of sanctions on Russian oil production. The US military announced on Tuesday that it had boarded a third oil tanker that had fled the coast of Venezuela following the US operation to capture Maduro in early January.<\/p>\n