The escalation of tensions between Cuba and the United States and Washington’s oil siege of a country in its worst crisis in decades have led governments in America and Europe to issue warnings to potential travelers, threatening a key sector for the island’s economy.
Countries among the main sources of tourists to the island, such as Canada, the United States and Spain, have pointed out in recent weeks the critical situation that the country is going through.
Argentina directly recommended “avoiding or postponing tourist trips” due to the shortage of fuel, food and water, and the prolonged power outages.
The Government of Canada, for its part, warned its citizens on its official website that the current situation in Cuba is “unpredictable and could deteriorate, altering the availability of flights in a short time.”
The country, the main source of tourists to the island for decades, warned that “a high degree of caution must be exercised in Cuba due to worsening shortages of electricity, fuel and basic needs, including food, water and medicine, which may also affect tourist centers.”
For its part, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United Kingdom also alerted its travelers about the blackouts, ensuring that they can exceed 24 consecutive hours and that they can impact basic services.
The United Kingdom also indicated that the lack of fuel can cancel or delay tourist plans without prior notice.
The US embassy in Havana warned on its website that the Cuban electrical grid “is increasingly unstable” and that the effects of the blackouts are transversal, so it called for caution.
The embassies of Spain and Ukraine have also issued alerts to their citizens regarding the current energy crisis and the recent US measures against the island.
The Spanish company delved into “the weakness of its electricity generation and distribution system,” but also into the chikungunya epidemic that broke out on the island in the second half of last year.
Milei government suggests Argentines not travel to Cuba due to “deterioration of living conditions”
“The critical shortage of medicines in Cuba makes it advisable to travel with a small first aid kit with the medicines that one usually needs, in addition to oral rehydration salts, analgesics, generic antibiotics, antidiarrheals, antihistamines, disinfectant, dressings,” the notice indicates.
The Ukrainian embassy in the Cuban capital also warned its citizens through social networks about the worsening economic situation and the implications of this deterioration on the island.
Specifically, he urged them to avoid traveling to Cuba, take additional precautions if they were already in the country and immediately contact the consular line on duty in case of any urgent situation.
Thus, the oil siege, in addition to gradually paralyzing the country – which only produces a third of its energy needs -, undermines the potential of one of its main economic sectors, both in terms of income and generation of foreign currency.
Tourism, however, had already been in the doldrums for several years due to the combination of US sanctions, the pandemic and the national economic crisis, which hampered the service and quality of the offer.
If in 2018 Cuba managed to attract 4.7 million tourists, its historical record, the island closed 2025 with only 1.8 million international visitors.
Oil siege
The United States put an end to shipments of Venezuelan oil to Cuba after the military operation with which it captured the president of that country, Nicolás Maduro, on January 3, and last week threatened with tariffs on countries that provide fuel to the island.
In addition to increasing pressure on Havana, Washington has assured that Cuba’s “days are numbered” due to the lack of fuel and has shown that it hopes the crisis will lead to “a regime change.”
In anticipation of an “acute fuel shortage”, the Cuban Government has launched an emergency plan this Saturday inspired by the so-called “zero option”, a survival strategy conceived in the event of a total absence of fuel during the so-called “Special Period” of the 1990s.
By Raquel Martori.
