As I reported days earlier, Russia sent the oil. The US told every country, “No oil for Cuba”. Russia didn’t listen. US (and President Trump) didn’t comment. Russia docked in Cuba with the oil. No harm, no foul. The US gave a great big OLÉ to the Russian oil tanker, and the world saw this. And Vladimir Putin was most definitely saw this. So what does it all really mean?
The Russian flagged tanker carrying some 700,000+ barrels of crude docked in Cuba’s Matanzas oil terminal on Tuesday, shipping data showed, marking the first significant oil delivery to the island since President Donald Trump’s administration cut off its fuel supply.
The Anatoly Kolodkin, under US sanctions, entered Cuban territorial waters late on Sunday. And get this, A Few Good Men fans, it wasn’t far from Colonel Jessup and the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay. All this despite US restrictions on oil supplies to Cuba. On the record, the US said it was allowing the tanker to deliver the crude oil for humanitarian reasons. This sarcastically seems pretty nice considering how the US is doing all it can to destroy Cuba before they invade them.
“This is like finding water in the desert,” said Matanzas resident Marino Galvez, 66, who watched the ship early from the city’s waterfront boulevard.
It will take between 25 and 35 days before the oil can be fully processed and distributed domestically. The ship was carrying Russian Urals, a medium sour crude, which is a good fit for Cuba’s aging refineries.
