IS FEBRUARY 2020 THE START OF NEW CUBAN FUEL CRISIS?
The fuel shortages that began to plague Cuba in September of 2019 are today once again wreaking havoc on a what is already an unstable economy. One week after Cuba's communist government announced that it would begin selling cars to the public, the island is in the mist of another fuel crisis. Over the weekend there were very few gas stations in Havana with either diesel or gasoline, and the rumor is that the government will begin a rationing system for fuel that would create separate channels for privately owned and government vehicles.
Approximately half of all cars and four-fifths of all trucks on the road in Cuba belong to the government, which employs over half of the population. When these trucks don’t have fuel, they simply stop making deliveries, and since all stores on the island are owned and operated by the government it means no products reach stores. It seems diesel fuel is not making it to the pumps because the government is keen on keeping the lights on throughout the island, and wants to avoid blackouts that remind the population of the “special period,” no fuel at the pumps keeps power plants humming and residents watching TV since they have nowhere to go. It all works out in Cuba!
By Frank Gonzalez
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