In Cuba, people go without food and power as U.S. chokes oil supply and tourists flee

Some Cubans say everyday life on the Caribbean island has reached a breaking point amid a fuel shortage brought about by the U.S. squeezing the country’s oil supply. Meanwhile, Canadian airlines suspended service to the island and are ferrying tourists back home.

“For me, any change for us will be better than what we are living through, because what we are experiencing is not humane,” Isben Peralta told CBC News in a phone interview during a blackout.

“Some of us who have a little business have a bit to eat, but many, many, many people do not have it. It’s very, very bad.”

Peralta lives in Ciego De Avila, in central Cuba, where he operates a small pizzeria out of his home. He says he’s lucky — he still gets power a few hours per day, but says that’s only because he lives near a location where fuel is delivered.

Sometimes, he can even get a three hour stretch where he has electricity. In other areas in his province, Peralta says people will go 10 or 11 hours without power, followed by 30 minutes at most with the power back on.

“We have a bit more power … and then they take it away for five hours straight before putting it on again for another little while.”

On Sunday, in an official notice called a NOTAM posted to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) website Sunday, Havana’s José Martí International Airport warned it was nearly out of jet fuel. By Monday, Canada’s major airlines suspended flights.

Country in crisis

Cuba has historically relied on Venezuela to provide most of its oil, but it has not received any crude or refined products from its top ally since mid-December, when the U.S. seized its president, Nicolás Maduro, attacked the capital last month and moved to block the South American country’s exports.

U.S. President Donald Trump has since vowed that Cuba would receive no more oil from Venezuela and signed an executive order on Jan. 29, placing sanctions on countries that sell it fuel. This effectively cut off Cuba’s supply of aviation gas and fuel for its electrical grid, which is in such a state of disrepair that power cuts were standard for many Cubans even before the oil blockade.

Mark Entwistle, a former Canadian ambassador to Cuba, says the Trump administration is trying to inflict pain and throttle the country’s economy to the point that the regime collapses.

Cuba has faced shortages of food and medicine for some time, Entwistle says, and has long experienced a “challenging” energy situation.

WATCH | Former ambassador says Trump trying to throttle Cuba’s economy:

Cuba struggles as U.S. intensifies oil blockade: former ambassador

After U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to place new sanctions on countries selling oil to Cuba, Mark Entwistle, a former Canadian ambassador to Cuba, says the Trump administration is trying to inflict pain and throttle the country’s economy.

While some of these issues have their roots in the COVID-19 pandemic when Cuba shut down its tourism sector, he told CBC News Network that the humanitarian situation is real and “will get steadily worse” because it is being exacerbated by U.S. actions.

Entwistle says there may soon come a time when Canada needs to step in and send significant humanitarian aid despite the tariff threats, and hopefully the U.S. won’t be too “ferocious” about it.

“I don’t believe even the Trump administration could try to block humanitarian assistance to children who are hungry.”

‘It’s very bad’

With flights suspended, Luis Escalona is effectively cut off from his family in Holguin, a city in the island’s southeast. He’s lived in Winnipeg with his wife and son since 2015, but typically returns to Cuba several times each year.

Escalona is the only person in his family who lives in Canada, and he says they rely on him. Now, he will be unable to take his mother to the hospital during his visit next month, which he’s been forced to postpone.

“I had arranged to rent a car and go with her when I was there in March. Now, she will have to wait as there is no power, supplies, gasoline and they cancelled our flights,” he said.

“I’m very disappointed … I bought many things that my family needs to survive that are impossible to get in Cuba, or they cannot afford to buy.” 

He was planning to bring a suitcase full of Tylenol, vitamins, hygiene products, soap, shampoo and mosquito spray.

Life is hard for his family right now, Escalona said.

There’s limited access to water and without power, they can’t cook, he said. But without transportation, they can’t get to work to earn money for food, anyway, and when there’s no power, there’s no phones.

“It is very hard waiting days for an update from all my loved ones back home,” he said.

Many businesses remain open

Despite the fuel shortage, one Canadian living in Havana says people in Cuba are finding ways to get by.

“There’s no palpable panic on the streets,” said Sean Lulker, who owns a parts supply business based in Toronto and splits his time between his Ajax, Ont., home and Cuba.

He says many businesses remain open, even as people deal with frequent power outages and shortages of key supplies.

Though Cubans have shown resilience, Lulker says things aren’t easy.

“It’s bleak, it’s difficult,” he told CBC News during a phone conversation from Havana Monday when his connection cut out amid a power outage that lasted hours. Lulker says his business has turned to solar power and batteries to cope with outages. He’s also stocked up on enough fuel to last through March.

Meanwhile, in Ciego De Avila, Peralta says the situation there is dire, with salaries not providing people with enough money to buy food.

“Everything is deteriorated and in very bad conditions,” he said in Spanish.