By Simon Lewis and Dave Sherwood WASHINGTON/HAVANA, Jan 15 - The U.S. State Department's top aid official on Thursday said Cuba's authorities must not interfere with a shipment of humanitarian aid to its people and suggested President Donald Trump could take action if Cuba does not comply.

From sunrise, throngs of military personnel, government officials and civilians lined the route between Havana's airport and the Armed Forces Ministry to applaud home the remains of 32 Cuban troops killed in Venezuela as they passed by in a funeral cortege.

Though Mr Trump’s intentions are murky, it is obvious that Cuba’s regime is now unusually vulnerable. It has survived for decades by courting powerful backers like the Soviet Union to prop up its state-controlled economy.

Cuba received on Thursday the remains of its 32 soldiers killed in combat during the U.S. attack on Venezuela and stunning capture of its president, Nicolas Maduro, paying homage to the troops as national "heroes.

Mexico, which was providing some oil to Cuba before Maduro's capture by the U.S., has become an especially key fuel supplier to the island since the Venezuelan leader's arrest, which was accompanied by the U.S. interception of vessels carrying oil to Cuba. Sheinbaum has referred to oil as "humanitarian aid."

President Donald Trump has urged Cuba to make a deal with the U.S. as he uses Venezuela to crank up the pressure on the island.

President Donald Trump warned Cuba there will be no more oil coming its way and told it to strike a deal, inciting a response from its leaders.

Cuban national television broadcast live on Thursday morning the return of the remains of 32 of its citizens, who were killed in the U.S. strikes on Venezuela during the operation in the early morning of Jan. 3 to capture the ousted Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel wrote that for 'relations between the U.S. and Cuba to progress, they must be based on international law rather than hostility, threats, and economic coercion.'

Trump vows to cut all oil and financial support to Cuba, urging the island nation to "make a deal" as he reshapes regional energy flows and policies.

President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social that Cuba would no longer receive oil or money from Venezuela.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that the U.S. was sending the “first humanitarian shipment” to Cuba to help residents recovering from Hurricane Melissa. “We are working with the