
The Trump administration clamped down on US tourist visits to Cuba on Tuesday, aiming to cut the flow of dollars to a country that Washington accuses of helping prop up Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

As long lines outside shops with mostly bare shelves are increasingly common in Cuba, and the government has indeed signaled that things are going from bad to worse, Havana is blasting president Donald Trump's administration for the hardship and misery.

The United States claimed on Tuesday that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was on his way out, saying he had a plane ready and that senior officials were plotting to oust him, even as the leftist firebrand appeared to survive a military uprising.

The US admiral in charge of the Guantanamo Bay detention centre in Cuba has been fired due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command,” US Southern Command said in a statement on Sunday. Rear Admiral John Ring was removed from the post on Saturday, the brief statement said, without giving details about why.

Cuba branded U.S. national security adviser John Bolton a “pathological liar” on Thursday for his allegation that it has troops stationed in ally Venezuela and said the latest U.S. sanctions would further hurt but not vanquish the Cuban people.

The Trump administration on Wednesday intensified its crackdown on Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, rolling back Obama administration policy and announcing new restrictions and sanctions against the three countries whose leaders national security adviser John Bolton dubbed the three stooges of socialism.

Norwegian Cruise Line’s Sun returns to Port Canaveral for the second season of popular cruises from the Port to Cuba, as well as excursions to the Bahamas. Starting Monday, April 15, the Norwegian Sun, which in 2018 became the first home-ported cruise ship to sail from Port Canaveral to Cuba, will offer four-, five- and seven-day cruises to Havana, Cuba, with select sailings also calling to Key West during its four-day cruises.

Venezuela's state-run PDVSA has shipped one million barrels of oil to Cuba days after the United States imposed fresh sanctions on vessels and firms involved in exports to the island in an effort to halt oil trade between the political allies, according to a PDVSA document and tanker tracking data.

Cuban Communist Party leader Raul Castro said on Wednesday Cuba would never abandon its ally Venezuela despite US “blackmail”, even as the Trump administration threatened more sanctions over its support.

The defense of Florencia Kirchner presented before the Federal Oral Court 5 in charge of the “Los Sauces” case, her complete medical record and her residence address in Cuba on Monday, as requested by the Argentine Justice.