"Union leaders and oil workers rallied outside Petrobras headquarters in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday, urging the state firm and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to send crude and fuel products to Cuba to ease the island's energy crunch. Footage shows protesters gathering in front of the company's headquarters, delivering speeches and holding placards reading: 'Oil for Cuba, now - down with the imperialist blockade,' 'Lula, send oil to Cuba,' and 'Hands off Latin America.' "Oil has to serve the good of humanity. There is no way for Brazil to watch what is happening with the energy blockade on Cuba and not contribute to remedying this situation," said Sibele Vieira, member of the United Federation of Oil and Gas Workers of Brazil (FUP). Federal Congressman of the Socialism and Liberty Party, Glauber Braga, stated that "Cuba is experiencing a humanitarian siege with an obvious imperialist attack," and added that "defending Cuba is a humanitarian issue." "If one country breaks the siege, the second breaks it, the third breaks it, the fourth breaks it; the isolated position does not have to be that of those who break the siege. The isolated position has to be that of the United States, faced with the imposition of a policy that is a frontal attack on the life of the Cuban people," he said. This follows the United States' decision to impose tariffs on nations trading oil with the island. The measures have intensified Cuba's energy crisis, affecting healthcare services, universities and public transport, as the island faces ongoing fuel shortages and recurring blackouts. The US Treasury Department announced on Wednesday that it will again allow the sale of Venezuelan-origin oil to Cuba through specific licenses, as long as the transactions "support the people and do not involve the Cuban Government.""