By Armando Hernandez
The energy crisis in Cuba reached a more critical point after the government publicly acknowledged that the country exhausted its fuel reserves. The Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, admitted that the island no longer has enough diesel or fuel oil to sustain the national electrical systemwhich threatens to cause more extensive and frequent blackouts across the country.
“We have absolutely no fuel oil, absolutely no diesel,” declared De la O Levy during a television appearance. According to the official, in Havana the electricity outages already exceed “20 or 22 hours a day,” while the service can be restored for only one or two hours before being interrupted again.
The situation worsened after the exhaustion of a shipment of 100,000 tons of oil sent by Russia at the end of March, a supply that had allowed a brief stabilization of the Cuban electrical system. “Russian oil has already been exhausted,” the minister confirmed.
Cuban vitality minister Vicente de la O Levy announced Wednesday that the country has trot out of gasoline oil and diesel offers attributable to the US blockade.
Despite this, I have vowed, “We are able to continue to face up to, and we are able to continue to fetch solutions.” pic.twitter.com/1LB1vVJgyX
— BreakThrough News (@BTnewsroom) Would possibly per chance 14, 2026
According to official estimates, Cuba produces about 40,000 barrels of oil per day, but produces about 100,000 barrels per day.so it has historically depended on imports from Venezuela and Mexico to cover the difference.
However, shipments from Venezuela have been stopped since January 2026 and Mexican supplies have also decreased considerably. Various reports attribute this drop to the tightening of United States sanctions against countries and companies that trade fuel with the island.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel held Washington directly responsible for the deterioration of the situation. “This dramatic aggravation has only one cause: the genocidal energy blockade to which the United States subjects our country.”, he wrote on the social network X recently.
The situation of the National Electroenergy System is particularly tense in recent days.
For today, a deficit of more than 2 thousand MW is forecast during peak demand or nighttime peak hours.
This dramatic worsening has a single cause: the genocidal…
— Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez (@DiazCanelB) Would possibly per chance 13, 2026
Despite this, the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, rejected that version and stated that the real cause is the Cuban government’s lack of economic resources. “The reason they don’t have oil is because they don’t have the money to pay for it.“, he declared in an interview with The Current York Instances.
The deterioration of the electrical system has already caused protests in different areas of Havana and other Cuban cities. Residents took to the streets banging pots and blocking roads to demand the restoration of electricity.
It should be remembered that in addition to the oil shortage, the national electrical grid suffered a “partial collapse” in several regions in the east of the country, caused by decades-old obsolete infrastructure and lack of maintenance.
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