Cuba postponed its annual Habanos cigar fair, organizers said Saturday, as the island grapples with blackouts and severe fuel shortages that have been exacerbated by disruptions to its oil supply. The event, which had been set for the last week of February, is now delayed without an announced new date, according to Habanos S.A., the company behind the fair. In a statement, Habanos S.A. said it made the decision to “preserve its high standard of quality.”
Habanos S.A. operates the Habanos Festival, described as a central gathering for cigar aficionados and distributors, where attendees tour tobacco plantations, participate in auctions, and see the latest in cigar craftsmanship. The company’s statement did not provide a revised timetable for the 26th edition of the cigar fair, which had been planned as an annual highlight.
The postponement follows broader disruptions to cultural and travel activity in Cuba this month, as fuel shortages and power blackouts spread through the country. Several cultural events, including a book fair, have been postponed as the government confronts what the reporting characterized as the most severe fuel shortages and power blackouts in years.
Habanos S.A. is a joint venture between the state-owned company Cubatabaco and international firm Altadis, and it holds the global monopoly on Cuban cigar sales. The company’s statement also placed the pause in context of recent industry activity: last year’s fair closed with an auction in which $18 million was paid for a batch of highly coveted, hand-rolled cigars, and the company reported record sales of $827 million.
The fuel shortages also have affected aviation access. Earlier this week, three Canadian airlines canceled flights to Cuba after the Cuban government announced there would be no jet fuel for planes seeking to refuel at Cuba’s airports. Other airlines maintained flights but said they would refuel with stopovers in the Dominican Republic.
The disruption has been tied in the reporting to changes in oil shipments driven by U.S. actions, including a threat by U.S. President Donald Trump to impose tariffs on any country that sold oil to Cuba. Cuba imports about 60% of its energy supply and previously relied on Venezuela and Mexico for much of its oil. Shipments from Venezuela were canceled in January after the removal of then-president Nicolas Maduro in a U.S. military raid, a move that the report said also resulted in greater U.S. oversight over Venezuela’s oil industry, while shipments from Mexico stopped in mid-February following the tariff threat.
In a separate statement, Tabacuba, a state-run tobacco company, said the postponement reflected the island’s “complex economic situation,” describing it as the result of the “intensification of the economic, commercial and financial blockade” imposed by the United States.