02/07/2026, 08:5602/07/2026, 08:56
Fewer buses, restrictions at schools and universities and reduced vacation options for tourists: Cuba is taking drastic measures to save fuel as a result of increased tensions with the US government and its oil embargo. As the government of the socialist Caribbean island announced, economic life, including essential services, should be maintained.
Washington has imposed an “energy blockade” as part of its “aggressive escalation” against Cuba, said Deputy Prime Minister Óscar Pérez-Oliva, justifying the emergency plan. Several ministers explained the measures on state television on Friday evening (local time).
Limited public transport operations
Cuba has not received oil from Venezuela since December, as US President Donald Trump ordered a complete blockade of sanctioned oil tankers carrying supplies from the sister South American nation. With the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro by the US military on January 3, Havana lost an important ally. Trump then threatened to impose tariffs on Cuba’s oil suppliers. Mexico, most recently Cuba’s largest oil supplier, stopped its deliveries.
According to the government, in order to save energy, public administration should only operate from Monday to Thursday. Bus and train connections as well as ferry trips will be severely restricted. Civil servants can be transferred to other areas of activity to alleviate shortages in important economic sectors. The University of Havana announced that it would largely suspend in-person classes for 30 days.
Tourists are being relocated
Visitors from abroad are also partially affected. Tourism as an important source of foreign exchange must be protected, but supply will be concentrated on the holiday destinations with the highest demand, said Pérez-Oliva. Operations at the airports should remain guaranteed. According to a report by the news portal “14ymedio”, some hotels on the paradisiacal Los Cayos Islands off the coast of Cuba were closed before the announcement and guests were taken to other facilities.
Situation worse than in the 90s
The current crisis on the island is compared to the difficult period of upheaval at the beginning of the 1990s. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Caribbean state plunged into its deepest economic crisis since the revolution under Fidel Castro in 1959. Gross domestic product collapsed by more than a third and oil became a scarce commodity. With the help of its oil-rich partner Venezuela and income from tourism, Cuba only found its way out of the crisis a few years later.
However, according to experts, the current situation is even worse than it was back then. The Cubans have been suffering for years from the consequences of systematic mismanagement and the stricter policies of their powerful neighbor, the USA. Power outages are becoming more frequent, the electricity network is dilapidated due to a lack of investment, and there is a shortage of food and medicine. As a result of the crisis, fewer and fewer tourists are visiting the island. (sda/dpa)