HAVANA (AP) — Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said Monday that his government should “immediately” focus on implementing urgent transformations to the island’s economic and social model as oil reserves in the Caribbean country dwindle.
The comments made during a meeting of the Council of Ministers come as Cuba feels the squeeze of a recent oil blockade coupled with a halt in oil shipments from Venezuela after the U.S. attacked the South American country in January.
“We must focus, immediately, on implementing the urgent, most necessary transformations that must be made to the economic and social model," he was quoted as saying by state-owned media.
Díaz-Canel said the push to transform Cuba’s economic and social model are tied to business and municipal autonomy and the resizing of the state apparatus, government and institutions, among other things, according to state-owned media.
He called on municipalities to manage issues including foreign direct investment; economic partnerships between the state and non-state sectors; and investments with Cubans residing abroad, according to state-owned media.
Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz said Cuba’s priorities are focused on food production and changes to the island’s power grid as severe outages and interruptions in fuel supply persist.
The minister of energy and mines, Vicente de la O Levy, was quoted by state media as saying that progress in developing a transition strategy by municipalities is still slow despite the distribution of solar panels to doctors, teachers and children. He said municipalities need to have a sustainability strategy that relies on their own resources.
Last month, Cuba implemented austere fuel-saving measures, including halting some public transportation and moving classes online.
Last week, the U.S. Treasury Department slightly eased restrictions on the sale of Venezuelan oil to Cuba, but the island’s energy and economic crisis is expected to persist.
In addition to its energy woes, Cuba is struggling with a sharp increase in U.S. sanctions that have stripped the island of nearly $8 billion in revenue from March 2024 to February 2025, a loss that is nearly 50% higher compared with the previous period, according to government statistics.
Follow AP’s Latin America coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
FILE - A Cuban woman hanging laundry on her balcony is seen reflected in a glass window decorated with a poster of Cuba's leader Fidel Castro in Old Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Dec. 27, 2007. (AP Photo/Dado Galdieri, File)
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (AP) — President Donald Trump confirmed he will attend Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Monday at Madison Square Garden, but said he doesn't have much sympathy for ordinary basketball fans who can't afford sky-high ticket prices to do the same.
“They can watch it on television,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Friday as he flew to Wisconsin for an event with farmers, after he was asked about tickets that have climbed as high as $8,000 each when the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs square off in Manhattan for the first time in the series.
"It’s sorta semi-free to watch it on television,” the president added. “That’s the way life goes.”
Trump further noted that if the Knicks weren't successful — as they haven't been most seasons since last advancing to the finals in 1994 — “you could go very easily.”
The president of course doesn't have to purchase tickets to attend major sporting events. Trump has been to a lot of them in his second term, including the 2025 Super Bowl, Daytona 500 and Ryder Cup.
But a centerpiece of his reelection campaign was a promise to tame inflation and bring down the price of groceries and other cost-of-living essentials. He has increasingly come under pressure to make good on that pledge as November midterm elections draw nearer — and as the war in Iran has caused gas prices to spike and global commodities markets to wobble, raising new fears about inflation and the strength of the U.S. economy.
A longtime Knicks fan, Trump said on Air Force One that he watched Game 1, which New York won 105-95 in San Antonio. “I think the Knicks have an amazing team the way they played," he said.
“Started off slow and it just got stronger and stronger," Trump said of Game 1. He pointed to Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns when asked to name his favorite player on the team.
Trump was also asked about Spurs star Victor Wembanyama having stood with his arms crossed for the national anthem before Game 1. That touched off a conservative firestorm online, even though Wembanyama is French, meaning his country's anthem wasn't being played.
Trump was complimentary of Wembanyama, saying that he “looks like he's gonna be a great player.” But he ducked a chance to weigh in on the national anthem controversy, suggesting he'd not seen Wembanyamba's crossed arms.
"Is that what he did? What did he mean by that?” Trump asked, before recommending that reporters seek the answer from Wembanyama himself.
Trump confirming his attendance for Game 3 follows NBA Commissioner Adam Silver saying on Wednesday that a presidential appearance at a finals game might be unifying in “our increasingly divided society.”
“It creates a sense of connectivity among people," Silver said. "It creates a sense of belonging, and I feel that every day.”
Weissert reported from Washington
President Donald Trump walks to his motorcade vehicle after talking with reporters Friday, June 5, 2026, at Chippewa Valley Regional Airport in Eau Claire, Wis. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
New York Knicks fans pose at a subway entrance in New York decorated in team colors as the Knicks play the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 of the NBA Finals basketball series on Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One en route from Joint Base Andrews, Md., to Eau Claire, Wis., Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
