Cuba Rations Fuel and Reinstates Telework to Cope with Energy Shortage
Cuba rations fuel, promotes remote work, and reserves petrol for tourism. The island turns to gasogenes and animal traction to survive the energy crisis.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Cuba Rations Fuel and Brings Back the Ox Cart
Cuba's government announced an emergency plan including fuel rationing, telework, and hybrid university classes. Limited fuel is reserved for foreign currency-generating activities, with tourism at the center. The island looks to the past to survive without oil.
The news, reported by RTVE, depicts a scenario only remembered in Spain from post-war accounts. Traffic has plummeted, and petrol is only available at some stations, paid in dollars. The rest must walk, cycle, or use what they can.
Return to Gasogenes and Animal Traction
The comparison with Franco's autarky is not literary license. In the 1940s and 50s, Spain covered the oil gap with gasogenes, bicycles, mules, and charcoal. The 1944 Victory Parade antiestéticatured soldiers on foot, bikes, or horse-drawn carts. Cuba seems condemned to repeat this manual.
Gasogenes, which convert organic matter into combustible gas, were tested here with mixed results. Then-electric cars failed. What worked was basic: animal traction, legs, and patience. Some already imagine chickens in the yard, home slaughter, and oil lamps.
Why is Cuba Running Out of Oil?
The trigger is not just internal scarcity. According to circulating reports, Trump prevents Venezuela from sending crude, any country doing so faces sanctions and tariffs from January 26, and Mexico has been pressured to cut the tap. Without fuel, there is no electricity: much of the island depends on thermal generation.
Debate continues over whether it is a blockade or embargo. One sector argues it is an embargo due to the seizure of US assets, while a real blockade would require a fleet off the coast. Others point out that previously gifted oil must now be paid for in cash on the spot market.
State Agriculture and Uncaught Fish
Cuba's economic model shares blame. Agricultural and livestock production is state-controlled, and the population is banned from fishing to limit civilian boats and engines. An island surrounded by rich seas with no fish on the table.
Pig and chicken breeding is semi-clandestine, with neighborhood surveillance networks and prison sentences for activities considered domestic in other economies. The result is a country that does not produce what it consumes and depends on external aid for essentials.
Tourism, the Last Bullet
The plan reserves scarce fuel for foreign currency-generating activities, with tourism as the priority. The problem is that a tourist will not walk from the airport to the hotel or wait for a donkey-drawn ambulance. Without transport, there are no visitors, and without visitors, no dollars.
The paradox is that the regime needs tourism to survive, but tourism needs the energy the regime lacks. The circle closes on itself.
The island has sold resistance as identity for decades. Now resistance is literal: walking, pedaling, and lighting oil lamps. The staggering fact is not rationing, but that an island with sea, sun, and fertile land depends on another country gifting fuel to avoid blackout.
Cuba's government announced an emergency plan including fuel rationing, telework, and hybrid university classes. Limited fuel is reserved for foreign currency-generating activities, with tourism at the center. The island looks to the past to survive without oil.
The news, reported by RTVE, depicts a scenario only remembered in Spain from post-war accounts. Traffic has plummeted, and petrol is only available at some stations, paid in dollars. The rest must walk, cycle, or use what they can.
Return to Gasogenes and Animal Traction
The comparison with Franco's autarky is not literary license. In the 1940s and 50s, Spain covered the oil gap with gasogenes, bicycles, mules, and charcoal. The 1944 Victory Parade antiestéticatured soldiers on foot, bikes, or horse-drawn carts. Cuba seems condemned to repeat this manual.
Gasogenes, which convert organic matter into combustible gas, were tested here with mixed results. Then-electric cars failed. What worked was basic: animal traction, legs, and patience. Some already imagine chickens in the yard, home slaughter, and oil lamps.
Why is Cuba Running Out of Oil?
The trigger is not just internal scarcity. According to circulating reports, Trump prevents Venezuela from sending crude, any country doing so faces sanctions and tariffs from January 26, and Mexico has been pressured to cut the tap. Without fuel, there is no electricity: much of the island depends on thermal generation.
Debate continues over whether it is a blockade or embargo. One sector argues it is an embargo due to the seizure of US assets, while a real blockade would require a fleet off the coast. Others point out that previously gifted oil must now be paid for in cash on the spot market.
State Agriculture and Uncaught Fish
Cuba's economic model shares blame. Agricultural and livestock production is state-controlled, and the population is banned from fishing to limit civilian boats and engines. An island surrounded by rich seas with no fish on the table.
Pig and chicken breeding is semi-clandestine, with neighborhood surveillance networks and prison sentences for activities considered domestic in other economies. The result is a country that does not produce what it consumes and depends on external aid for essentials.
Tourism, the Last Bullet
The plan reserves scarce fuel for foreign currency-generating activities, with tourism as the priority. The problem is that a tourist will not walk from the airport to the hotel or wait for a donkey-drawn ambulance. Without transport, there are no visitors, and without visitors, no dollars.
The paradox is that the regime needs tourism to survive, but tourism needs the energy the regime lacks. The circle closes on itself.
The island has sold resistance as identity for decades. Now resistance is literal: walking, pedaling, and lighting oil lamps. The staggering fact is not rationing, but that an island with sea, sun, and fertile land depends on another country gifting fuel to avoid blackout.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (136 replies).
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