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Widespread power outage across the country cuba That means many people woke up on Friday unaware that the President of the United States Donald Trump Threats to impose tariffs on any country that sells or supplies oil to it Caribbean Sea island.
As the news begins to spread Havana Added to this is the anger and anguish over the decision, which will only make life more difficult for Cubans already struggling under increased U.S. sanctions.
“This is a war,” said Lázaro Alfonso, 89, a retired graphic designer.
He described Trump as the “sheriff of the world” and said he felt like he was living in the Wild West, where anything goes.
After Trump made the announcement late Thursday, he described Cuba as a “failed state” and said, “It looks like this is a country that’s not going to survive.”
Alfonso, who lived through a severe economic depression known as the “Special Period” after the Soviet Union cut aid in the 1990s, said Cuba’s current situation is even worse because of severe power outages and a lack of basic goods and fuel.
“The only thing missing here in Cuba is for the bombs to start falling,” he said.
Cuba is hit by widespread blackouts every day as fuel shortages and crumbling infrastructure add to an economic crisis exacerbated by a decline in tourism, tightening U.S. sanctions and the failure of internal financial reforms to unify the currency. Now Cubans fear new restrictions on oil shipments will only make matters worse.
Trump previously said he would stop oil exports from Venezuela, Cuba’s biggest ally, after the United States attacked the country and arrested its leader.
At the same time, there is speculation that Mexico Exports to Cuba will be significantly reduced.
Mexican President Claudia Scheinbaum said on Friday she would seek alternatives to continue helping Cuba and prevent a humanitarian crisis following Trump’s announcement.
Scheinbaum said one option could be for the United States to manage the shipment of Mexican oil to the island itself, although it would be necessary to understand the details of Trump’s order first.
Mexico joined Russia as Cuba’s main fuel supplier after U.S. sanctions on Venezuela paralyzed crude oil shipments from Cuba.
“It’s impossible to live like this,” said Yanius Cabrera Macías, 47, a Cuban street vendor who sells bread and sweets.
He said he did not believe Cuba posed a threat to the United States.
“Cuba is a threat to Cubans, not to the United States. For us Cubans, it is the government that is a threat to us,” he said, adding that Trump’s latest measures would deal a heavy blow. “Ultimately, it’s the people who suffer… not the government.”
Jorge Piñon, an expert at the University of Texas Energy Institute’s use of satellite technology to track shipments, said a key question remains unanswered: How many days does Cuba have fuel?
Pignon warned that without tankers on the horizon in the next four to eight weeks, Cuba’s future would be grim.
“The situation is critical now because the only country we suspect is Mexico,” he said, noting that diesel is “the backbone of the Cuban economy.”
Pignon pointed out that China has no oil and all they can do is provide credit to Cuba to buy oil from third parties. At the same time, he called Russia a “wildcard: it has so many sanctions that one more sanction wouldn’t bother Putin,” adding that a lot of Russian oil was looking for a destination because of those sanctions.
Meanwhile, many Cubans still live in darkness.
Luis Alberto Mesa Acosta, a 56-year-old welder, said he was often unable to work due to ongoing power outages, which reminded him of the “special period” he was going through.
“I don’t see the end of the tunnel anywhere,” he said, adding that Cubans needed to unite and help each other.
Cuba’s average daily electricity demand is about 3,000 megawatts, about half of what is available during peak hours.
Dayanira Herrera, the mother of a five-year-old boy, said she had difficulty caring for him because of the power outage, noting that they spent their evenings on the porch.
When she heard Trump’s announcement Wednesday morning, she couldn’t believe it.
“It’s the end of the world,” she said of the impact it would have on Cuba.
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Mexico City contributed by Havana and Maria Verza.