2023-04-23 16:36:07
The acute lack of fuel, which has been causing long queues in front of gas stations in Cuba for several weeks, has meanwhile led to far-reaching savings measures. Several universities announced that they would suspend face-to-face classes in the last week of April. The first provincial governments announced rationing plans.
The University of Santa Clara, “Marta Abreu”, announced that it would not start face-to-face operations once more until May 3rd. Students are required to provide themselves with exercises via the institution’s Moodle online portal next week, lecturers will receive free internet access for the time being. This is reported by the newspaper of the student association FEU, “Alma Mater”. The Universities of Holguín, Artemisa, Sancti Spíritus, and the Agricultural College of Havana will also suspend face-to-face classes next week, and student accommodation will then be partially closed. The universities of Pinar del Río, Cienfuegos, Matanzas, Camagüey, Las Tunas, the University of Havana (UH) and the Technical University of Havana (CUJAE), on the other hand, announced that they would continue face-to-face operations on Monday with adjustments. So there will be no exams in the UH next week. Lecturers are encouraged not to take extreme delays into account when classes start and to keep content available online as much as possible.
Cuba’s Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy announced on Tuesday the government’s decision to ration fuel in the coming weeks due to the current shortage. The country currently only has 400 of the 500 to 600 tons that the country consumes every day. According to the minister, the causes are failures and delays of central suppliers. In addition, due to ongoing maintenance work at large power plants, Cuba is increasingly using diesel fuel for power generation, which is lacking for the transport sector. According to O Levy, the situation is expected to continue through May, with “the first suppliers meeting their obligations once more,” according to the minister.
The savings measures envisage severely limiting the sale of fuel at petrol stations in order to maintain “vital services” such as patient transport, dialysis, maintenance vehicles for telephone and electricity suppliers and funeral services. In Havana, delivery limits of 100 liters of diesel and 40 liters of petrol per vehicle came into force on Tuesday. The province of Villa Clara announced the temporary complete suspension of free sales. “With full transparency, we inform you that today we do not have the necessary amount of fuel to organize the sale,” read the website of the citizen portal “Soy Villa Clara” on Saturday. Only “approved private transport companies for public transport” can be guaranteed a minimum quantity.
On Sunday, state-owned oil company Cupet denied speculation that the fuel crisis was a result of re-exports of refined fuels as shipments from friendly Venezuela increased, according to freighter data. “Cupet does not export fuel because the demand is not guaranteed,” CEO Néstor Pérez Franco told Cubadebate news portal. He pointed to import restrictions and high prices on the world market “which make it very difficult for the country to get access to this product” and explained that the quantities supplied from Venezuela might only cover basic needs. “We are working to eliminate the bottleneck that affects us all as soon as possible,” said Pérez.
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