Cuba Shipments from Miami: Restrictions and Political Pressure in 2026

Cuba’s energy crisis has reached the shipping boxes piled up in Miami. In recent weeks, the island’s major courier agencies have announced emergency restrictions that directly affect thousands of diaspora families who rely on these services to help their loved ones back home.

At the same time, political pressure from Washington and Miami is intensifying: Cuban-American lawmakers are calling from the Port of Miami for shipments to the “regime” to be canceled, creating unprecedented uncertainty about the future of package deliveries to Cuba.

The Fuel Crisis: The Trigger

It all started in January 2026, when a U.S. military operation in Venezuela led to the capture of Nicolás Maduro, cutting off roughly 35,000 barrels of oil per day that Caracas had been sending to Havana. Russia contributed another 7,500 barrels daily.

Cuba lost its main fuel suppliers overnight.

Mexico attempted to ease the crisis by sending two Navy vessels with more than 800 metric tons of food and personal hygiene products. But on Tuesday, February 17, President Claudia Sheinbaum announced that Mexico will not send fuel to Cuba, bowing to U.S. threats of tariffs on countries that supply crude oil to the island.

“For now, we will not send fuel,” Sheinbaum declared at her morning press conference, closing yet another door for Havana.

The Shipping Agencies: Emergency Restrictions

The diesel shortage has paralyzed Cuba’s internal transportation network, making it nearly impossible for delivery trucks to reach their final destinations. The consequences for shipping agencies have been immediate.

Cubamax

One of the largest Cuba shipping companies — with more than 25 years in operation — announced emergency measures on February 12:

• Only accepts non-perishable food and medicine
• One shipment per customer (registered customers only)
• No home delivery: packages must be picked up at 239 designated collection points across the island
• Customers in Miami lined up for blocks upon hearing the news

Cubamax warned that if conditions don’t improve, it will impose further restrictions.

The company is also under political scrutiny. In late December 2025, Cuba’s Central Bank authorized Cubamax to handle dollar remittances inside the island. Miami-Dade County Tax Collector Dariel Fernández asked federal authorities to review that authorization, calling it “a matter of national security.”

Panavana

Panavana has also announced restrictions: delivery only at designated pickup points, staggered appointment scheduling based on customs processing, and extended delivery delays.

Supermarket 23

This platform currently only operates in Havana, Pinar del Río (the provincial capital), and Isla de la Juventud, restricting new orders to those areas due to the lack of fuel for nationwide distribution.

Katapulk

The only major agency still maintaining deliveries across the entire country, Katapulk issued an unusual warning: it cannot guarantee how long it can sustain these conditions and urges customers to place orders as soon as possible while the service remains available.

Political Pressure from Miami

The logistics crisis coincides with an escalation in political pressure from Florida’s Cuban-American congressional delegation.

Carlos Giménez (R-FL) formally asked U.S. airlines operating in Cuba at the start of February to “cancel all flights to the brutal regime.” While focused on air travel, the rhetoric signals the direction of policy.

María Elvira Salazar has argued that the Cuban government is using private small businesses (mipymes) as a backdoor to import fuel and evade sanctions, calling them “another trap of the regime.”

Mario Díaz-Balart, María Elvira Salazar, Carlos A. Giménez, and Nicole Malliotakis sent a letter to President Trump on February 13 asking the Justice Department to consider formal charges against the Cuban government.

Can They Actually Ban Package Shipments?

The reality is more complex than the political rhetoric. Food and medicine shipments to Cuba are protected under SCP (Support for the Cuban People) licenses, legal exceptions to the embargo administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Companies like Cubamax operate legally under these licenses.

What could change is the interpretation of which Cuban companies or entities qualify as acceptable “final beneficiaries” — a distinction that has sparked heated debate about the Cuban state’s role in the distribution chain.

What This Means for Families

For Cubans in the diaspora, this convergence of crises is devastating. Millions of Cuban households depend on packages from abroad for access to basic food and medicine. The long lines at Cubamax offices in Miami are the human face of a geopolitical crisis that exacts its heaviest toll at family dinner tables.

Every agency is saying the same thing: if you need to send something, do it now. The situation could get worse.

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