Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) drew backlash after a video circulated showing her saying she had spoken with foreign ambassadors about efforts to get oil into Cuba. The comments came after Jayapal returned from a congressional delegation trip to the communist island and criticized U.S. restrictions on fuel shipments. Jayapal described Cuba’s fuel shortage as “a crisis beyond imagination.” Critics later pointed to the Logan Act, a federal law dealing with unauthorized efforts to influence foreign governments in disputes involving the United States.
Jayapal said the administration had threatened countries that provided fuel to Cuba and that the policy had already affected shipments. She argued that the shortage was creating a severe crisis inside Cuba. She then said she had been in conversations with foreign ambassadors as other Latin American countries were trying to figure out how to get oil there.
Jayapal began by describing what she said had happened since the Trump administration took action in January. “Since January, only one Russian tanker of oil has made it to Cuba,” Jayapal said. “In fact, it landed just a couple of days before I landed, and one tanker has enough oil, basically for 10 to 14 days of Cuba’s oil needs.” She said that meant the shipment only provided short-term relief. “So it’s a very limited amount of time now,” she added.
The X post showed Jayapal continuing by saying Russia had indicated it would send another shipment. “Russia has said they’re going to send another tanker,” Jayapal said. She then made the comment that drew the most attention online. “I was in conversations with the ambassadors from Mexico and some other places, and I know other countries in Latin America are trying to figure out how to get oil there. But it is a crisis beyond imagination.”
On her House website, Jayapal and Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-IL) wrote, “The illegal U.S. blockade of fuel to Cuba—90 miles south of the United States—adds to the longest embargo in world history and is causing untold suffering to the Cuban people.” They also wrote, “The United States prevented a single drop of oil from entering Cuba for over three months.” The lawmakers said the policy was “cruel collective punishment.” They also described it as “effectively an economic bombing of the infrastructure of the country.”
Watch Jayapal discuss the Cuban oil issue here:
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Jayapal and Jackson said in the same statement that they had heard from several groups during the trip. “We heard from a wide variety of voices—families, religious leaders, entrepreneurs, civil society organizations, the Cuban government, Latin American and African ambassadors, humanitarian aid organizations, and Cubans across the political spectrum, including dissidents,” the statement said. They said there was “universal agreement across all sectors” that the blockade had to end immediately. They also said the United States and Cuba “must immediately enter into real negotiations” to change course.
The Logan Act issue came from Jayapal’s statement that she had spoken with ambassadors of other countries who were trying to get oil to Cuba. The federal law, 18 U.S.C. § 953, applies to a U.S. citizen who, “without authority of the United States,” directly or indirectly carries on correspondence or intercourse with a foreign government or its agents “with intent to influence” that government in relation to disputes or controversies with the United States. The statute says a violation can be punished by a fine, imprisonment for not more than three years, or both. Jayapal has not been charged with a crime as of the writing of this story.
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.