Cuba faces jet fuel shortage amid US pressure: airlines informed of inability to refuel
Kyiv • UNN
Cuba is preparing for a shortage of aviation fuel, which will affect international flights, while Nicaragua has closed its borders to Cuban migrants. These events are taking place amid US pressure and an economic crisis on the island.
Cuba risks losing vital air links as it prepares for an aviation fuel shortage, while an allied country has cut off an important channel for migrant movement amid growing pressure from the US aimed at overthrowing the regime in Havana, Bloomberg reports, writes UNN.
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The communist government has warned international airlines that they will no longer be able to refuel at Havana's main airport for the next month after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on any country supplying oil to Cuba.
A-1 aviation fuel will not be available at José Martí International Airport from Tuesday until March 11, the Federal Civil Aviation Administration announced on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Nicaragua has changed its immigration rules to prohibit Cuban citizens from entering the Central American country without a visa. Almost one in five Cubans has left the island in the last decade amid a deepening economic crisis.
Cuba is served by airlines from the US, Canada, Europe, and Latin America. In previous periods of economic hardship, including after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, airlines adjusted schedules to allow refueling in Mexico or the Dominican Republic.
In addition to tourists, who are a critical source of hard currency for the Cuban government, travelers often bring much-needed goods to the cash-strapped island. Food, medicine, and consumer goods are often imported by so-called couriers who load luggage for delivery on commercial flights.
In early January, Washington effectively cut off fuel supplies to Cuba from its main ally Venezuela when it extradited socialist leader Nicolás Maduro to New York for trial on drug terrorism charges.
The Havana government said last week that it is open to negotiations with the US but insists that its one-party system of government is not up for discussion. On Friday evening, it presented crisis measures that included reducing public transport routes, shortening the work week from Monday to Thursday, and moving some university classes online.
Authorities have also begun closing resorts in the country's most important tourism industry, concentrating visitors in fewer hotels in hopes of maximizing foreign revenue during the high season.
The state also intends to accelerate plans to transition to wider use of solar energy. In one year, Cuba's national power grid has experienced half a dozen complete collapses as the situation on the island deteriorated.
On Sunday, Mexico sent two navy ships to the island with more than 800 tons of humanitarian aid, including food and personal hygiene products.
Mexico sent two ships with humanitarian aid and food to Cuba09.02.26, 05:48 • 2746 views