Cuba has completely run out of diesel and fuel oil, admitted the Minister of Energy, Vicente de la O Levy.
In an interview with state media, De la O Levy stated that gasoline reserves were limited and that the Cuban energy system was in a critical situation due to the oil blockade imposed by the United States, which has drastically reduced imports.
On Wednesday, isolated protests were reported in Havana, the capital, against electricity cuts, according to the Reuters news agency.
This week, the US reiterated its offer to send $100 million in aid to Cuba in exchange for “significant reforms to the Cuban communist system.”
“The sum of the different types of fuel: crude oil, fuel oil, of which we have absolutely nothing; diesel, of which we also have absolutely nothing – I repeat – the only thing we have is gasoline from our wells, whose production has increased,” declared De la O Levy.
“We have absolutely no gasoline, we have absolutely no diesel,” the official insisted.
Both diesel and fuel oil are essential to power the thermoelectric plants that support the Cuban energy system, reported the digital media “Cibercuba”.
Under the US blockade, some areas of Havana have suffered blackouts of between 20 and 22 hours, he continued.
The minister also acknowledged that the situation in the country is “extremely tense.”
Hospitals have not been able to function normally, while schools and government offices have been forced to close. Tourism, Cuba’s economic engine, has also been affected.
Normally, Cuba depends on Venezuela and Mexico to supply oil to its refinery system. However, both countries have halted those shipments.
Venezuela cut off its hydrocarbon exports to the island after the US military operation that deposed Nicolás Maduro on January 3, and Mexico after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on countries that supplied fuel to Cuba.
So far this year, only one Russian ship with 100,000 barrels of crude oil has arrived in Cuba, but it indicated that those reserves have already been exhausted, De la O Levy revealed.
Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed that Havana had rejected a US offer of humanitarian aid worth $100 million, a claim Cuba denied.
The State Department reiterated its offer on Wednesday, indicating that humanitarian assistance would be distributed in coordination with the Catholic Church and “trustworthy” humanitarian organizations.
“The decision lies with the Cuban regime: accept our offer of assistance or deny valuable life-saving aid and, ultimately, hold the Cuban people accountable for hindering such assistance,” he added.
Washington’s blockade against the country intensified in early May, when the US imposed a series of sanctions on senior Cuban officials, accusing them of committing “human rights violations.”
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez described the new sanctions as “illegal and abusive.”
*with information from Harry Sekulich
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