Cuba’s worsening fuel crisis is now severely hampering the delivery of humanitarian aid distributed through the Catholic Church, a senior American church official said in an interview.
Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski, who has helped coordinate aid shipments to Cuba for three decades from South Florida, told USA TODAY that what his diocese is able to send to Cuba is "small potatoes" because it's proving increasingly difficult to find ways to distribute the supplies it sends to the island amid extreme fuel shortages.
Wenski said that in the past week his community was able to ship a container of chicken to Caritas Cuba, an aid group associated with the Catholic Church, but that when it reached the area "Caritas was using almost what I would describe as wheelbarrows to distribute it. They sent me the photos."
He said that Cubans are telling him that the island is reaching its "zero hour": humanitarian collapse.
The Trump administration has tightened longstanding sanctions and curbed oil shipments to Cuba as part of a broader campaign to force sweeping political changes on the communist-run island. Already mired in a severe economic crisis, the near-total blockade is pushing the country toward collapse. The White House has also threatened tariffs on countries supplying oil to Cuba, including Venezuela and Mexico, and added the island to its list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Trump's renewed attention on Cuba has at times bristled the Vatican, with Pope Leo XIV calling on all parties to have "sincere and effective dialogue."
The pope, who has emerged as the most prominent global critic of Trump's actions on the world stage, said in February that dialogue was the way to "avoid violence and any action that could increase the suffering of the beloved Cuban people,” according to Vatican News.
The Free Press reported on April 6 thatCardinal Christophe Pierre, who acted as a Holy See ambassador to the U.S. until March, was "summoned" by the White House over a speech Pope Leo made in January. The report, citing unnamed Vatican officials,characterized parts of the meeting as "a bitter lecture warning that the United States has the military power to do whatever it wants— and that the Church had better take its side."
USA TODAY can confirm the meeting took place, but the Pentagon and the Vatican have both pushed back on the version of events described in the report.
Meanwhile, the U.S. and Cuba have acknowledged they are in the early stages of trying to find a way out of the crisis but it's not clear how much each side is willing to compromise.
In an interview withNBC News, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canelsaid he would not resign under U.S. pressure. And he said Havana has asked the Trump administration to open formal talks without requiring political concessions.
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A hotel remains lit by its own system during a blackout in Havana on March 16, 2026, after Cuba suffered a widespread power cut according to the national electricity company, against the backdrop of a severe crisis on the island caused by the US energy blockade.
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Millions without power after Cuba’s electric grid fails
A hotel remains lit by its own system during a blackout inHavanaon March 16, 2026, after Cuba suffered a widespread power cut according to the national electricity company, against the backdrop of a severe crisis on the island caused by the US energy blockade.
Even as the Trump administration's attention has shifted to the war in Iran, tensions between Washington and Havana have escalated in recent weeks.Trump has suggestedhe expects soon to have the "honor" of "taking Cuba, in some form," adding, "Whether I free it, take it − I think I can do anything I want with it."
At the same time, U.S. and Cuban officials have quietly pursued high-level talks centered on apotential economic deal. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is leading the U.S. side and met in February with the grandson of former Cuban leader Raúl Castro. Díaz-Canel publicly confirmed on March 13 that discussions were underway.
Few details about the talks have emerged.
In his NBC News interview, Díaz-Canel said his government remains bound to the will of the Cuban people. "The concept of revolutionaries giving up and stepping down - it’s not part of our vocabulary,” he said.
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Catholic Church: A U.S.-Cuba mediator
The Catholic Church has long served as a mediator between the two countries and played a central role in the 2015 thaw that restored diplomatic relations after more than five decades of hostility.Pope Francishelped broker that opening − Trump later began reversing it during his first term − and laid the groundwork for the visit by President Barack Obama to Cuba in March 2016.
On Feb. 20, seniorU.S. diplomats met in Rome with Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher,the Vatican’s foreign minister, to discuss the Church’s role, according to the Washington Post. That same day, U.S. officials also met Latin American ambassadors to explore how the Church could support economic opportunity and greater freedom for Cubans.
In March, the Vatican also helped secure the release of 51 prisoners from Cuban jails, including 27 political detainees, according to the advocacy group Prisoners Defenders.
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Weeks later, Cuban authorities announced the release of more than 2,000 additional prisoners, though none were classified as political, said Javier Larrondo, the group’s president.
Despite speculation, Larrondo said the releases were unrelated to U.S.-Cuba talks. He added that Trump administration officials had contacted NGOs, including his, in early 2025 about political prisoners but made clear they were not involved in any negotiations to secure releases.
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“They knew nothing about any negotiations with Cuba to free anyone or anything,” he said.
Meanwhile, arrests of political prisoners have surged. After averaging about 15 per month last year, authorities detained 28 people in February and more than 45 in March, Larrondo said.
As thefuel crisis deepens, he said, Cuban officials fear a repeat of the July 2021 protests, when widespread unrest driven by economic hardship triggered violent clashes and led to more than 8,000 arrests.
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For the past few months, people have been showing up at soup kitchens with containers – in order to bring home meals to their families, rather than eat at the distribution line, said Sissi Rodriguez, executive director of Friends of Caritas Cubana, a U.S.-based nonprofit that raises funds for the group.
The crisis on the island began deepening last year after Cuba struggled to recover from Hurricane Melissa.
In October, the category-3 storm battered Cuba's eastern regions with heavy rain, flooding and destructive winds. Caritas Cuba deployed volunteers to the area, distributing aid across the storm-wrecked areas via horse-drawn buggies and oxen-pulled carts, said Rodriguez.
“Cuba’s situation is unsustainable,” said Larrondo, of Prisoners Defenders.
Dems descend on Cuba
Two Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives who visited the island last week echoed that assessment.
Reps. Pramila Jayapal and Jonathan Jackson said they traveled to Cuba to witness firsthand theimpact of the fuel embargo, which they described as “an illegal blockade of energy supplies.”
“This is the most sanctioned place on Earth right now, just 90 miles from our shores,” Jackson told reporters in Havana. “Let’s lower the rhetoric. People are suffering −and for no good reason.”
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The lawmakers said their five-day visit, which ended April 5, included meetings with Díaz-Canel, Cuban legislators, and senior foreign ministry officials.
“There has been dialogue - the beginnings of dialogue,” Jayapal said. “It hasn’t yet reached full negotiations, but there is clearly an interest in getting there and addressing what needs to change.”
'Let us sit down and talk'
Wenski, in Miami, who is 75, said that he had planned to travel to Cuba last month to meet with Cuban bishops across the island but had to delay the trip because of a last-minute illness. His visa is still valid for several weeks.
"I'm trying to get a couple of days to go over," he said.
But before goes, he said he'd want to talk to the Cuban bishops to make sure that they will be able to retrieve him at the airport, feed him and get him back to the airport so he can get home.
In February, Cuban bishops decided to cancel theirad liminavisit – a visit of bishops to Rome that usually happens every five years and allows them to interact with the pope and other Vatican members – due to the deteriorating situation on the island.
In aninterview with Crux magazine, Bishop Arturo González Amador, head of the Cuban Diocese of Santa Clara, said he and other bishops were readying to leave to the airport in mid-February to attend the Rome meeting when they were told the planes may not have enough fuel to leave the island.
They decided to remain closer to the Cuban people in their time of need, he said.
González applauded efforts by the U.S. and the Catholic Church to send aid to victims following Hurricane Melissa and said it was time for the two countries – the U.S. and Cuba – to drop past grievances and strengthen ties.
“We must do our part, and it is time for dialogue,” he told Crux. “Enough of being entrenched against one another; enough of uttering offensive words. Let us sit down and talk.”
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Church warns humanitarian aid falters as Cuba’s fuel crisis deepens