"US Secretary of State Marco Rubio blamed the Cuban government for the country's 'worst economic climate' over the past several decades, speaking in Washington DC on Wednesday. "The people of Cuba are suffering today. They've been suffering for a long time. They're suffering now, perhaps more than at any time in recent memory, perhaps in the history since 1959," remarked Rubio. "It is the authorities there in that government who are responsible for that. They are the ones that have made decisions that have left Cuba vulnerable to the situation they're now in," he continued. Cuba is facing one of its worst energy crises in years, after an oil embargo and other US sanctions drastically reduced fuel imports, exacerbating shortages and causing severe blackouts across the country. According to data presented by Cuba to the United Nations, the sanctions caused losses of more than 7.5 billion USD (6.3 billion EUR) between 2023 and 2024, affecting imports, financing and key sectors such as food, energy and health. Washington's pressure campaign on the country includes threats of tariffs on those nations that continue to supply oil to the island. Rubio also addressed a deadly incident in which Cuban soldiers killed four people and wounded six others aboard a Florida-registered speedboat that entered Cuban waters on Wednesday. "I'm not going to speculate on what the US will do," he stated, persisting, "We're going to find out exactly what happened and who was involved, and then we'll make a determination. [...] I'm very confident we will be able to know the story and be able to independently verify facts about it." The US is gathering information to find whether the victims were American citizens or permanent residents. Cuba's government claimed the 10 passengers were armed Cubans living in the US attempting to infiltrate the island 'to unleash terrorism', and that the boat opened fire first, injuring one Cuban officer. Rubio also highlighted the recovery process in Venezuela under the interim government, lauding its stable situation. "We're increasingly entering into this phase of recovery. And part of that is a national reconciliation. So there have been very positive steps taken," the secretary underlined. The US launched a military operation in Venezuela last month, targeting military bases and communications hubs before capturing then-president Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, during a raid on a safe house in Caracas. US officials said the operation involved more than 150 aircraft and resulted in at least 80 fatalities, including Venezuelan and Cuban personnel. Maduro and Flores were later transferred to the United States and are being held at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in New York City."