Summary
Cubans in Havana reported worsening disruptions to day-to-day life as a U.S.-led effort to block oil supplies deepened Cuba’s energy crisis. Residents described unreliable public transportation, longer gas lines, and blackouts becoming a more frequent backdrop to ordinary routines, days after President Miguel Díaz-Canel warned the country would face further sacrifices. In conversations across the city, many asked what more they could give up as fuel shortages tightened.
The changes were unfolding against a backdrop of an already deteriorating economy and long-running power problems, with working-class residents facing the brunt of the disruption, according to the reporting. A day after Díaz-Canel’s warning, anxieties simmered in Havana as residents compared the new shortages to earlier periods when daily logistics had already become difficult.
In Havana’s working-class districts, residents said public bus service that had already become unreliable stopped arriving at all. Bookseller Solanda Oña said she spent Thursday night sleeping in a nearby restaurant after the bus that typically takes her home did not come, describing it as a shift from past hardship when, she said, there was “always one bus.” She told the Associated Press that by Friday morning people like her were already getting a glimpse of what was to come.
Transportation problems were widespread in the city, the report said. Some residents found that buses stopped running altogether, while others were left walking long distances or hitchhiking to get where they needed to be. The article described long gas lines and blackouts as a constant on the island that had grown worse as U.S. pressure intensified.
The Associated Press also cited steps taken by Cuba’s transportation and education systems amid the shortfall. The national transportation company said it was cutting routes in the east of the island. The University of Havana said it would cancel some events and move toward more remote learning, citing “energy deficits.”
Even as parts of daily life appeared to continue in Havana, the report said that much of the city—including schools, banks, bakeries and shops—continued operating as usual. Taxis, shared electric motorcycles and other transportation organized by some employers were still working in the capital, but the story said taxi fares remained out of reach for many Cubans living on state salaries of less than $20 a month.
The reporting tied the worsening to what Cuba portrays as U.S. actions narrowing the island’s access to energy. It said Trump signed an executive order threatening tariffs on countries providing oil to Cuba, a move that could further cripple an island already struggling with a deepening energy crisis. The story also said the United States announced $6 million in aid to Cubans on Thursday night.
Cuba’s government has blamed the crisis on U.S. sanctions, saying the measures cost the country more than $7.5 billion between March 2024 and February 2025. The article said Cuba produces only 40% of the oil it consumes, and it described how the situation worsened after Venezuela stopped shipments in January, following a U.S. military operation that captured Nicolás Maduro. It also said Mexico halted its oil exports to Cuba in late January, after a sovereign decision.
In the face of the shortages, Díaz-Canel questioned the broader consequences of cutting fuel to the country. The Associated Press reported his view that denying oil affects transportation of food, food production, public transportation, the functioning of hospitals, institutions of all kinds, schools, economic production and tourism.
For some residents, the new conditions were forcing day-to-day improvisation. Cristina Díaz, a 51-year-old mother of two, said she responded by walking to her job as a house cleaner, joining other people who strolled along the roadside on Friday. She said: “We’re living as best we can,” adding that she said she has to walk to get to work and feed her children.