(CNN) Cuba announced new rationing of food and basic cleaning and hygiene products as the communist-run island grapples with increased US sanctions and the economic crisis affecting its close ally Venezuela.

Cubans will face "regulations" on the purchase of chicken, eggs, sausages, and cleaning and hygiene products, the state-run website Cubadebate reported Friday. For weeks, Cubans have complained of empty store shelves and fights have broken out in state-run markets when chicken and other hard-to-find items go on sale.

The government blames the shortage on the hardline taken by the Trump administration on the island's government for its support of the regime of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela. The supply of oil coming from Venezuela to Cuba has been waning in recent months as the Maduro government deals with US sanctions and an imploding economy.

The Trump administration announced the new sanctions in April against what US National Security Adviser John Bolton calls the "troika of tyranny": Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

Part of the sanctions includes the enforcement of Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, or Libertad Act. Title III is a provision of the decades-old trade embargo on Cuba that allows US citizens to file lawsuits in US federal court against businesses that operate on property seized by the Cuban government during the revolution.

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