Cubans take to streets as fuel shortage triggers nationwide blackouts
Protesters in Havana lit fires in the streets to denounce rolling blackouts and a worsening fuel shortage that has plunged parts of Cuba into darkness for days. Falling oil imports are tightening the squeeze on the island's electricity grid. The government has suspended overnight public transport and shortened state office hours while urging citizens to conserve.
Protesters gathered after dark in several Havana neighbourhoods, burning tyres and banging pots to call out the authorities. Footage published by Al Jazeera shows the unrest erupting in the middle of cascading blackouts and a worsening fuel shortage. Much of the island's power generation still relies on thermal plants that burn imported fuel.
The Cuban government has said in recent weeks that oil deliveries from Venezuela and Russia have slowed. US sanctions also make it harder for international suppliers to sell to the island. Officials have suspended overnight public transport and shortened state employee hours in an effort to ease pressure on the grid.
President Miguel Diaz-Canel urged citizens to remain patient and called on Washington to ease its sanctions. The White House confirmed last week that the CIA director visited Havana and that a limited humanitarian aid package was under discussion. Opposition voices are beginning to call for early elections, citing the government's handling of the crisis.
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