BASSETERRE, St Kitts and Nevis (AFP) — The United States (US) on Wednesday eased its ban on Venezuelan oil exports to Cuba after the communist-run island plunged into an economic crisis, which Caribbean leaders warned could bring instability to the region.

The Treasury Department said the United States would allow “transactions that support the Cuban people” that include Venezuelan oil for “commercial and humanitarian use”.

To qualify, the exports would need to go through private businesses and not the vast government or military apparatus in the communist state.

The announcement came during the Caricom summit attended by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American who has spent his career hoping to topple Havana’s government. Rubio staunchly defended the January 3 US attack that deposed Venezuela’s leftist leader Nicolas Maduro.

Cuba’s economy has been in freefall since the United States snatched Maduro and forced Venezuela to stop oil shipments to the island, which relied on its leftist ally for half its fuel needs.

Rubio warned that restrictions would be added back on Cuba’s imports of Venezuelan oil if Havana violated the “spirit” of the easing of the US embargo.

Noting that oil imports would be allowed via Cuba’s small private sector, Rubio told reporters in St Kitts and Nevis: “If we catch the private sector there playing games and diverting it, to the regime or to the military (controlled) company — if we find that they’re moving that stuff around in ways that violate the spirit and the scope of these permissions, those licenses will be cancelled.”