- Title: Cubans queue for hours due to acute fuel shortages
- Date: 18th September 2019
- Summary: HAVANA, CUBA (SEPTEMBER 17, 2019) (REUTERS) TIME-LAPSE SHOWING ROWS OF VEHICLES QUEUING TO PURCHASE PETROL ALONG MALECON AVENUE HAVANA, CUBA (SEPTEMBER 18, 2019) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CUBAN RESIDENT, ALEJANDRO RUIZ, SAYING: "I had to stop working to be able to get petrol, and there I already know the problem is, there is no petrol in any CUPET (fuel stations belonging to state-owned company CUBAPETROLEO). I come from Miramar (neighbourhood located to the west of Havana) to put some in and this is the only place where there is petrol. And look at the queue, you can see it goes around the whole block. A problem? Yes, there is a problem with the petrol. There is no petrol anywhere." QUEUE OF PEOPLE WAITING TO PAY FOR PETROL PEOPLE QUEUING OUTSIDE PETROL STATION TAXI DRIVERS QUEUING TO PURCHASE PETROL (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) TAXI DRIVER, CARMEN ROBAINA, SAYING: "These have been difficult days, quite complicated because everyone, the entire population, from the transport workers to the population are very restless. And we are trying to find the best solution but it is quite complicated. It is really quite complicated because there is not longer a good time to go out. From the time the sun comes up to nightfall we have the same situation. There is no day of peace, nor is there an easy time to take transport on the street, it is very difficult." VEHICLES QUEUING IN PETROL STATION TAXI DRIVER, ANTOLIN LOBAINA, INSIDE HIS TAXI (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) TAXI DRIVER, ANTOLIN LOBAINA, SAYING: "At least two hours queuing, the other time it took longer. The other day I filled up the tank at seven o'clock at night. I joined the queue at 31 and 18 (streets in Havana neighbourhood) and left at nine at night. It's quite a difficult station." HAVANA, CUBA (SEPTEMBER 17, 2019) (REUTERS) ROW OF PARKED VEHICLES WAITING TO FILL UP TANKS ALONG MALECON AVENUE DIVERS TALKING WHILE THEY WAIT CARS IN AVENUE
- Embargoed: 2nd October 2019 17:49
- Keywords: Cuba queued for hours fill up their petrol tanks Havana fuel shortage U.S. sanctions President Miguel Diaz-Canel fuel shipments
- Location: HAVANA, CUBA
- City: HAVANA, CUBA
- Country: Cuba
- Topics: Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA001AX6RKUF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Cubans queued for hours to fill up their petrol tanks in Wednesday (September 18) in Havana, as a fuel shortage that the government blames on U.S. sanctions began to bite.
President Miguel Diaz-Canel warned Cubans last week on state television of difficult times ahead as U.S. attempts to block fuel shipments to Cuba meant there would be less diesel than usual available this month.
The government has agreed a series of measures to ensure basic services, he said. Some energy-intensive investments would be postponed, some train and bus services would be suspended and those who could work from home should.
The crisis should only be temporary though, he assured, with shipments for October guaranteed.
The government has assured Cubans this is not a return to those dark days as the economy is more diversified now, having opened up to tourism and foreign investment, and developed its own oil industry.
Still, this is a sign of the worsening of Cuba's economic situation. The government started rationing energy several years ago due to a decline in subsidized oil shipments from leftist ally Venezuela, cutting street lighting and the use of electricity in state-run institutions.
The Trump administration's tightening of the decades-old embargo on Cuba's already inefficient state-run economy has only worsened its economic situation and ability to pay for energy from elsewhere.
New U.S. sanctions imposed on Venezuela's state-run oil firm PDVSA in January have also made it harder for it to send oil shipments to Cuba.
Cuba and Venezuela's joint company, Transalba, for leasing and operating vessels covering the route between the two nations, has struggled to find enough tankers, captains and crew willing to work with the two sanctioned countries, according to shipping sources involved in the trade.
The flow of Venezuelan crude and fuel to Cuba has remained mostly stable this year, averaging 55,300 barrels per day (bpd) from February through August, according to Reuters calculations based in Refinitiv Eikon vessel tracking data and PDVSA's export programs.
But Diaz-Canel has said some of the negotiations to secure enough ships for September - without referring explicitly to shipments from Venezuela - had fallen through.
(Production: Rodrigo Gutierrez, Geraldine Downer) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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