HAVANA, Cuba (AFP) — The United States (US) should lift its blockade on Cuba rather than offer aid to the struggling island, President Miguel Diaz-Canel said Thursday, as the country endures worsening power cuts.

Cuba’s energy crisis has deepened since January when the United States imposed an oil blockade on the communist-run island of 9.6 million people.

Only one Russian oil tanker has made it through since then, and power cuts and supply shortages have become the norm, with Cuban officials saying that the country’s oil reserves have run out.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has renewed an offer of $100 million in aid on the condition that the assistance be distributed by the Catholic Church, bypassing the government.

In a post on X, Diaz-Canel urged the United States to instead lift its blockade.

“The damage could be eased in a much simpler and faster way by lifting or relaxing the blockade, since it is known that the humanitarian situation is coldly calculated and induced,” he said.

But, if Washington showed “true willingness” to provide aid, he added, “it will encounter no obstacles or ingratitude from Cuba.”

– ‘Turn on the lights!’ –

Eastern Cuba was Thursday plunged into the latest of outages affecting the whole country, with power returning to some areas later in the day.

Oil reserves sent by Russia have now “run out,” Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy told state television Wednesday, describing the situation as “very tense.”

“The heat continues to rise, and the impact of the blockade is indeed causing us significant harm… because we are still not receiving fuel.”

The power crisis prompted protests on the island.

A resident of San Miguel del Padron, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Havana, told AFP that people had protested by banging pots and pans on Wednesday evening.

Several other similar small demonstrations were held in neighborhoods across the capital, according to accounts gathered by AFP.

“Turn on the lights!” shouted residents in Playa, in the western part of the city.

Data compiled by AFP showed prolonged blackouts and record generation shortfalls in recent days — 65 percent of Cuban territory endured simultaneous blackouts on Tuesday.

Outages of more than 19 hours a day have hit Havana, while in several provinces, blackouts last for entire days.

US President Donald Trump — who since the start of the year has deposed Venezuela’s leftist leader but seen less success in a war on Iran — has mused that Cuba could be next and that the United States could take over the island.

“It’s a broken, nonfunctional economy, and it’s impossible to change it. I wish it were different,” Rubio told Fox News.

“I don’t think we’re going to be able to change the trajectory of Cuba as long as these people are in charge.”