Cuba announces sweeping fuel rationing to protect essential services and agriculture, defying US efforts to cut off oil supplies to the island nation.
HAVANA: Cuba has detailed a wide-ranging plan to protect essential services and ration fuel as the communist-run government defies a US effort to cut off oil supply to the Caribbean island.
The rationing measures are the first announced since President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on US-bound products from any country exporting fuel to Cuba. Commerce Minister Oscar Perez-Oliva struck a defiant tone as he laid out the government’s plan.
“This is an opportunity and a challenge that we have no doubt we will overcome,” Perez-Oliva told a television news program. “We are not going to collapse.”
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Government ministers said the measures would guarantee fuel supply for key sectors including agricultural production, education, water supply, healthcare and defence. The government will also supply fuel to the tourism and export sectors, including for the production of Cuba’s world-famous cigars.
Perez-Oliva said this was to ensure the foreign exchange necessary to fund other basic programs. “If we don’t have income, then we will not overcome this situation,” he added.
Domestic and international air travel will not be immediately affected by the fuel rationing. Drivers, however, will see cutbacks at the pump until supply normalises.
The government said it would protect ports and ensure fuel for domestic transportation to safeguard the island nation’s import and export sectors. Perez-Oliva also announced an ambitious plan to plant 200,000 hectares of rice to guarantee “an important part of our demand.”
He acknowledged fuel shortfalls would push the country to depend more on renewable energy for irrigation needs and animal-power for tilling fields. Education Minister Naima Ariatne, appearing on the same program, said infant-care centres and primary schools would remain open for in-person learning.
Secondary schools and higher education would implement a hybrid system requiring more “flexibility” that would vary by institution and region. “As a priority, we want to leave (open) our primary schools,” Ariatne said.
Top officials said healthcare would also be prioritised, with special emphasis on emergency services, maternity wards and cancer programs. The measures come as Cubans already suffer severe shortages of food, fuel and medicine.
