Cuba is now facing a growing crisis as severe fuel shortages disrupt daily life across the island. Rubbish is piling up in Havana with no diesel to power collection trucks, while extended blackouts are affecting homes, schools, and hospitals. In early 2026, the United States took control of Cuba’s oil supply by enforcing a strict blockade from Venezuela and threatening tariffs and sanctions on Mexico if the country tried to aid Cuba. These are both huge oil suppliers to Cuba. The policy provokes “regime change’ and weakens the Cuban government by causing a severe energy crisis and, in turn, attempting to foster economic dependence on the U.S. Many citizens in Cuba have been living weeks without stable electricity, constant blackouts, no clean water, and massive garbage pileups in their towns. All while living off the scraps of food and the $15-$20 made in a month. This is the everyday life of citizens in Cuba, while the government lets them face the consequences of their faults and choices.
Fuel Blockage:
On February 7, the Cuban government suspended fuel sales in local pesos and limited US dollar sales to 20 liters (5.3 gallons) per vehicle, creating a long waiting list on a Cuban online booking platform. Meaning that transportation costs have risen, and fuel on the black market has spiked. Prices have had a 400 percent increase from the week leading to the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on January 3 by the US forces. With this, the tourism industry is collapsing, with flights suspended or forced to refuel elsewhere. The Cuban government has implemented contingency plans, including scaling back public services and pushing for renewable energy.
Decades of strict US economic sanctions against Cuba, the largest island nation in the Caribbean, have destroyed its economy and isolated it from international trade. However, with the US forcing the blockade, Trump is now saying that the ‘Cuban government is ready to fall.’
Havana has rejected accusations that it poses a threat to US security. Alongside these smaller factors, Cubans have plunged into darkness as the crisis deepens, with millions left with no power, the string of blackouts hitting the island as it struggles with fuel shortages worsened by the pressure from the US.
Waste on Streets:
With the fuel shortages Cuba has had, waste collection services have been crippled, leading to massive, rotting garbage piles in Havana’s streets and other cities. Because of the crisis, piles of garbage have been stacked up for over 10 days in some areas. In response to the crisis, some citizens resorted to burning trash, which has been filling the air with toxic smoke. The situation has cut deeper into the economy and worsened the basic urban sanitation. This also affects generators, causing multiple blackouts across the country and heightened health risks.
Historical Economic Crisis:
While Cuba is experiencing its most severe economic crisis since the 1990s, affecting shortages of food, fuel, medicine, massive blackouts, and record emigration, the economic collapse has been driven by both inefficient and crumbling state-run systems which has intensified by U.S. sanctions, the COVID-19 pandemic, and declining support from Venezuela, it’s not the first time Cubans have gone hungry and without power. The “special period” following the collapse of the Soviet Union saw people begin to starve. But those who lived through those times say these are different. The government, out of money and ideas, has allowed a small super-class of Cubans to emerge, licensed to import products, including food. But inflation means very few can afford the goods. The administration was forced to rely on tourism as a lifeline due to the frequent power outages and economic collapse. However, despite its importance, tourism did nothing but widen the island’s class gaps. While doctors, teachers, and other professionals continued to receive Cuban pesos, workers in the tourism industry earned dollars and had a higher standard of living. As a result, there was economic apartheid, with foreign visitors living significantly better than Cuban citizens. This paradox of prosperity tourism booming while the Cuban people struggled became a source of national frustration. Underlying issues with the Cuban Communist Party and the U.S. embargo have become core factors in the current state of the country. The reliance on the Soviet-style economic model has led to low productivity and structural inefficiencies, while the Cuban government has blamed the U.S. embargo, which was a financial blockade initiated in 1960-1962 that banned and restricted Cubans from travel and trade.
Relations with the U.S. in the 1900s:
As mentioned, the U.S.-Cuba relationship has its roots in the Cold War. In 1959, Fidel Castro and a group of revolutionaries seized power in Havana, overthrowing the U.S. government of Fulgencio Batista. After the Cuban Revolution, the United States recognized the current government but continued to impose economic penalties as it increased its trade with the Soviet Union, nationalized American-owned properties, and hiked taxes on U.S. imports. Later on, President John F. Kennedy expanded into a full economic embargo that included stringent travel restrictions affecting Cuba. During the following years, the Cuban Missile Crisis created a threat of nuclear war, which caused the U.S. to withdraw its nuclear missiles from Turkey, because of the Soviet Union, which also allowed President Kennedy to not invade Cuba. This led to Kennedy prohibiting U.S. nationals from traveling to Cuba.
Cuba’s traditional revolutionary model is not likely to endure. The regime’s revolutionary character is unsustainable. U.S. pressure will lead to Cuba’s transformation. But any hope the Trump administration might have that such a transformation will be pain-free is misplaced. Cuba will transition from a revolutionary state to a postrevolutionary one that lacks a clear new identity. In the weeks ahead, the only thing Cubans can be sure of is their country’s deterioration: longer blackouts, more protests, more arrests, and accelerating emigration. Cuba is feeling pressure from both outside and within. The revolution seems close to its final chapter, yet the manner of its demise, and what will follow, is still unknown.
