Cubans from all walks of life are facing increasingly long blackouts and exorbitant prices for food, fuel and transportation, as the US threatens to impose absolute control over the communist-ruled nation.
To the news agency Reutersresidents of cities and neighborhoods around the capital Havana, the engine political and country, reported difficulties living in the city.
Taken together, the discussions portray a people pushed to the limit, as goods and services – particularly those tied to increasingly limited fuel supplies – become scarcer and more expensive.
For much of rural Cuba, this is not entirely new.
The island’s fragile and antiquated electricity system has been slowly failing for years, and residents have become accustomed to spending hours without electricityinternet or working water pumps.
But the coastal capital, where the streets are lined with 1950s cars and colorful if decaying Spanish colonial architecture, has until recently fared better.
Now, the crisis looks set to hit the island as well, as fuel shortages set in, with Venezuela and then, Mexico, halting oil shipments to the island.
American pressure
Oh, he stated tariffs will be imposed on imports from countries that supply oil to Cuba, increasing pressure on Washington’s longtime foe following the ouster of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, a key Cuban ally, in early January.
In many other countries, these conditions would have driven people onto the streets. So far, in a nation where protests have long been suppressed, there have been few signs of demonstrations. But it’s unclear how much more Cubans will be willing to put up with.
The Cuban peso lost more than 10% of its value against the dollar in three weeks, driving up food prices.
“It put me in an impossible situation,” said Yaite Verdecia, a Havana resident and homemaker. “There is no salary that can cover that.”
Routine is becoming more difficult
When asked about the possibility of one in Cuba shortly after Maduro’s capture, Trump said he didn’t think an attack was necessary because “it appears the situation is heading for the better.”
On Friday (30), Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez declared a “state of international emergency” in response to the US tariff warning, which, according to him, constituted “an unusual and extraordinary threat.”
But the government has said little about how it will deal with the growing threat of a humanitarian crisis.
Many of the Cubans with whom the Reuters spoke said that daily life – already difficult – had been reduced to the basics, such as securing food, cooking fuel and water, and had become noticeably more difficult in recent days.
Queues for fuel increased significantly this week at some gas stations in the city that still have fuel available.
Since the US blocked the supply of Venezuelan oil to Cuba in mid-December, virtually all gasoline has been sold in dollars – a currency few Cubans have access to.
“In the past, you could sign up and fill up once a month (in pesos),” said Havana resident Jesus Sosa, referring to an app that notified residents when it was their turn to fill up. “No more. Sales in national currency have been stopped.”
Transport crisis
The crisis has affected both public and private transport, driving some buses and private taxis out of business and forcing others to increase their prices.
Daylan Perez, 22, who hails private taxis for clients in Old Havana, said the dwindling number of buses means people now have no option but to pay increasingly higher fares for private transport.
“Either you pay the price or stay home,” he said.
Even transportation by electric vehicles – once considered the ideal solution for fuel-scarce cities – has been plagued by blackouts that now last eight to twelve hours or more.
Taxi driver Alexander Leyet from Havana recently traded his taxi for an electric tricycle, thinking he had set himself apart from the competition.
“Now, because of the blackouts, I can only charge my taxi for four or five hours,” he said.
For decades, the government that has its roots in Fidel Castro’s 1959 Cuban Revolution has survived despite sometimes brutal economic difficulties, defying frequent predictions of imminent collapse or revolt.
A US-led effort to foment unrest has long been alleged, but the most recent widespread protests occurred in the year of the pandemic, in 2021, despite a 12% contraction in the economy between 2019 and 2024.
The severe repression of any form of protest, combined with the emigration of between one and two million people since the start of the pandemic, has practically eliminated organized opposition in the country.
