Basseterre (Saint Kitts and Nevis) (AFP) - The United States on Wednesday eased an oil embargo on Cuba but Secretary of State Marco Rubio called for the island to change “dramatically,” saying the communist government had only itself to blame for a historic economic crisis.

Rubio, a Cuban-American and lifelong critic of Havana’s government, heard concerns that the island’s tumult could destabilize the whole region as he attended a Caribbean Community summit.

Attending the talks on the tiny island nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Rubio staunchly defended the January 3 US attack that deposed Venezuela’s leftist leader Nicolas Maduro.

The United States swiftly then blocked Venezuela from exporting oil to Cuba, which had relied on its ally for nearly half its needs, triggering fuel shortages and rolling blackouts on the island.

The Treasury Department announced Wednesday that the United States would allow Venezuelan oil exports to Cuba if sent to the private sector – a small presence in the communist nation.

Rubio warned that the sanctions would be snapped back if the oil winds up going to the government or military.

“But Cuba needs to change. It needs to change dramatically because it is the only chance that it has to improve the quality of life for its people,” Rubio told reporters.

It is “a system that’s in collapse, and they need to make dramatic reforms,” he said.

“If they want to make those dramatic reforms that open the space for both economic and eventually political freedom for the people of Cuba, obviously the United States would love to see that,” he said.

Rubio blamed economic mismanagement and the lack of a vibrant private sector for the dire situation in Cuba, under communist rule since Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution.

“This is the worst economic climate Cuba has faced. And it is the authorities there, and that government who are responsible for that,” Rubio said.

- Warnings of instability -

Rubio spoke as Cuba announced that it had killed four people on a speedboat registered in Florida.

Cuba said that the gunmen had intended to infiltrate from the United States.

Rubio said that the United States was still studying the “unusual” incident and would respond but said little information was verified.

Caribbean leaders warned that any further deterioration in Cuba would impact the region and trigger migration – President Donald Trump’s top political concern.

“Humanitarian suffering serves no one,” Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said. “A prolonged crisis in Cuba will not remain confined to Cuba.”

Canada, which has long broken with its southern neighbor by maintaining warm relations with Havana, announced Can$8 million ($5.8 million) in aid for Cuba.

The Caribbean summit’s host, Saint Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Terrance Drew, studied in Cuba to be a doctor and said friends have told him of food scarcity and garbage strewn in the streets.

“A destabilized Cuba will destabilize all of us,” Drew said.

- ‘Without apology’ on Venezuela -

Addressing the summit, Rubio staunchly defended the deadly operation that seized Maduro, saying that Venezuela has made “substantial” progress since then.

“I will tell you this without any apology or without any apprehension: Venezuela is better off today than it was eight weeks ago,” Rubio said.

Rubio said he believed Venezuela had moved to a new phase and that there was a need for “fair, democratic elections,” although he did not lay out a timetable.

The United States once championed Venezuela’s democratic opposition but since removing Maduro it has worked with interim president Delcy Rodriguez, who was Maduro’s deputy.

Trump has voiced satisfaction with Rodriguez, including her welcome to US oil companies, and has threatened her with violence if she does not do his bidding.

Rubio also met at the summit with beleaguered Haiti’s prime minister, Alix Didier Fils-Aime.

Rubio said he was upbeat about progress in setting up a new UN-blessed force to suppress Haiti’s powerful gangs and voiced hope that the country will finally hold elections this year for the first time in a decade.

Rubio is the highest-ranking sitting US official ever to visit Saint Kitts and Nevis, a tiny former British colony reliant on beach tourism that was the birthplace of a US founding father, Alexander Hamilton.