The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, met in February with Raúl Castro’s grandson at a Caribbean Community (CARICOM) meeting on the island of St Kitts. Venezuelan oil deliveries to Cuba had already stopped, following the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro by the US. Shortly afterwards, Donald Trump ordered a blockade of any oil deliveries to the island regardless of their origin, though he has since allowed a Russian tanker to deliver a shipment – the first since January.

