Cuba’s government acknowledged Wednesday that the country has exhausted its fuel reserves, with officials warning that worsening shortages are crippling the national power grid and deepening unrest across the island.

Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy said Cuba has completely run out of both oil and diesel, blaming the crisis on ongoing U.S. sanctions and disruptions to foreign fuel deliveries.

“We have absolutely no fuel, and absolutely no diesel,” Vicente de la O Levy said on state media, according to The Guardian. “We have no reserves.”

The minister said the country’s electrical infrastructure has entered a “critical” phase, with residents in some parts of Havana now enduring rolling blackouts lasting as long as 22 hours each day.

Cuba relies heavily on imported Venezuelan crude, but officials said the island has received just one shipment of oil since January. United Press International separately reported that de la O Levy said a 730,000-barrel shipment delivered by a Russian-flagged tanker had already been depleted. According to officials, Cuba’s power grid is now being sustained only through locally produced crude oil, natural gas, and renewable energy sources.

Cuban authorities pointed to U.S. economic pressure following this year’s American military operation in Venezuela as a major cause of the deepening energy emergency. President Trump has also publicly warned foreign nations against maintaining commercial ties with Cuba.

“This dramatic worsening has a single cause: the genocidal energy blockade to which the United States subjects our country, threatening irrational tariffs against any nation that supplies us with fuel,” Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel wrote in a Wednesday post on the social platform X.

“It is a perverse design whose main objective is the suffering of the entire people, to hold them hostage and turn them against the Government,” he added.

Trump administration officials have repeatedly signaled support for political change in Cuba. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has previously indicated that Washington could reconsider parts of its economic campaign if Cuba were to install new leadership.

Rubio, whose family emigrated from Cuba, has long taken a hard line against the communist government. One of his earliest actions after taking office last year was reinstating sanctions targeting entities tied to Cuba’s military and government. Last week, the State Department announced additional sanctions against two Cuban organizations and one individual accused of supporting the regime.

“Cubans leave Cuba, they go to other countries and become successful,” Rubio said during an interview with Fox News aboard Air Force One this week. “The only place in the world where Cubans can’t seem to prosper and succeed is in Cuba.”

As fuel shortages worsen alongside an expanding humanitarian crisis, demonstrations have begun erupting in the capital. Reuters reported that hundreds of Cubans gathered in Havana on Wednesday night, blocking roads, banging pots and pans, and demanding electricity.

Reuters noted that police officers were deployed heavily around the protest areas, though authorities reportedly avoided major confrontations with demonstrators.

De la O Levy said Cuba continues trying to secure imported fuel supplies, but global energy markets have become increasingly unstable because of the conflict involving Iran and the shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, which has driven up both oil and shipping costs.

“Cuba is open to anyone that wants to sell us fuel,” he said, per Reuters.

President Trump also referenced possible communication with Cuban officials in a Truth Social post Tuesday, ahead of a state visit to China.

“No Republican has ever spoken to me about Cuba, which is a failed country and only heading in one direction – down! Cuba is asking for help, and we are going to talk!!!” he wrote ahead of a state visit to China.