The streets of Havana are quieter than usual — many of the rattling old vehicles the city is known for stand idle amid Cuba’s worst fuel shortage in years.
“This is infernal,” said 59-year-old Lazaro Diaz, a private delivery driver, after lining up an entire day for gasoline without luck.
Lines snake for kilometers around fuel stations in the capital of the communist nation suffering its worst economic crisis in three decades worsened by biting US sanctions and a tourism slump caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo: AFP
The dearth of fuel, which started at the end of last month, is being felt in all sectors and economic classes.
Everything from concerts to baseball games have been postponed or canceled, including the upcoming May Day rally in Havana’s Plaza de la Revolution, authorities said on Tuesday.
The event usually draws thousands, largely traveling by bus, to the square from all over the city. Instead, smaller events are being organized in Havana’s neighborhoods.
A university in the capital and four in other provinces have had to cancel in-person lectures this week, with students and professors unable to get to class.
Thousands of other workers have taken to working from home, but many do not have the option.
Diaz, for example, depends on his motorbike to support his wife, children and grandchildren.
“I don’t have fuel, I can’t work,” he said, smoking as he leaned against a wall in the intense afternoon sun.
“I cannot make a living standing in a queue,” he added.
In a country that is no stranger to shortages of basic commodities, many Cubans say this is the worst they have experienced.
Used to waiting in long lines for food and medicine, Cubans also have to deal with frequent power interruptions.
For now, many of Cuba’s 600,000-odd cars — for a population of 11.1 million people — are not going anywhere.
“It has been the most critical” shortage yet, said Edgar Sanchez, a 43-year-old volleyball coach who cannot make it to work because his Soviet-era Lada has run out of gasoline.
“We are not fuel producers, we depend on the world,” he said, after waiting seven hours in another fruitless line.
Like many others, he blames US sanctions in place for more than 60 years for Cuba’s economic ills.
In the middle of this month, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said that it was not “clear” how the country would “get out of this situation.”
Countries that supply Cuba with fuel have had to cut back due to a “complex energy situation” globally, he said.
Diaz-Canel did not name the countries, but Cuba relies heavily on fuel from ally Venezuela.
He said that Cuba could count on less than 363 tonnes of fuel per day, compared with the 454 to 544 tonnes it needs.
Available fuel was being rationed to avoid a situation of “zero supply,” Cuban Minister of Energy and Mines Vicente de la O Levy said.
“The problem is that Cuba does not have money, cannot pay cash for oil,” said Jorge Pinon, a senior research fellow the University of Texas’ Energy Institute.
Instead, it supplies Venezuela with workers such as teachers and doctors in a barter system.
Venezuelan oil supply to Cuba nevertheless dropped from about 100,000 barrels per day to 57,000 on average in 2021, Pinon said.
That figure remained constant throughout last year and in the first quarter of this year.
Cuba itself produces about 40,000 barrels, and last year also received “three or four shipments of crude oil” from Russia, he said.
Algeria provides some fuel “from time to time,” Pinon added.
Rationing is the only way to ensure the country has a critical fuel supply in the months to come, he said.
The government is prioritizing income-generating activities, especially in the tourism sector — the engine of the Cuban economy.
One fuel station in Havana has been reserved for vehicles with a “T” license plate indicating involvement in tourism, where rented vehicles and tour buses can secure the fuel they need, although not even they can avoid the infernal fuel lines.
Cubans have created multiple WhatsApp groups to share information about fuel availability.
There are groups for all sectors: Drivers of taxis, private or company vehicles and even diplomats share tips on the best ways to avoid the lines as motorists monitor tankers arriving at the port of Matanzas — one of the main fuel distribution centers on the island.
The government has said the shortages would likely continue at least throughout next month.
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