Cubans grapple with fuel shortages and blackouts as US steps up pressure
Cubans queueing for hours at fuel pumps in Havana now contend with blackouts reaching 16 hours a day. The Trump administration's tightening sanctions and the Castro indictment have further strained the island's economy. The government acknowledged that diesel imports have fallen 38 percent.
In Havana's Centro district, 51-year-old taxi driver Antonio Ramírez told the BBC: 'I queue at 5 a.m. and the tank fills by 2 p.m.' Cuba's state electricity union UNE said this week that daily generation shortfalls have climbed to 42 percent. Scheduled outages of 12 to 16 hours in Havana and Santiago de Cuba will continue through June; provincial hospitals are rationing generator fuel.
Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez told reporters at a weekend press briefing that the addition of 14 new fuel-carrying tankers to the U.S. Treasury control list has cut diesel shipments from Venezuela by 38 percent. Banco Central de Cuba data show the unofficial dollar-peso rate touched 1:325 in May while the official rate remains at 1:120. UNESCO and the WHO warned of a 'deteriorating humanitarian situation' as Cuba's capacity to import medicines and food contracts.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's Senate testimony this week calling Cuba 'the soft underbelly of the United States' drew a sharp rebuke from Havana. Rodríguez responded that 'these lies are intended to cover the failure of six decades of U.S. embargo policy.' The Caribbean regional bloc CARICOM has called for 'constructive dialogue' and announced an extraordinary summit on June 5 in Bridgetown. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said 'sanctions pressure will continue.'
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