LIMA, Peru – The Cuban regime warned international airlines that operate on the Island that starting next Monday, February 9, the country will run out of aviation fuel.
The news was shared by the EFE agencybased on information obtained from industry sources. According to the media, the main flight companies affected would be Americans, Spanish, Panamanian and Mexican.
So far, the companies have publicly communicated how they are going to face the problem, which could result in short-term alterations to routes, frequencies and schedules.
EFE recalled that this situation is not new on the Island, both during the special period in the 90s and “in momentary bottlenecks in recent months, the airlines had saved the problem by rearranging their routes with extra stops to refuel in Mexico or the Dominican Republic.”
Cuba is currently experiencing a chronic fuel shortage, which has led the country to enter subsistence mode, marked by a group of emergency measures and changes at the national level that were announced last Friday by the Government.
According to official information, the fuel available will focus on sectors considered priority. The Government assured that it will be used to protect essential services for the population and essential economic activities. Among the priorities mentioned are electricity generation – which is “fundamentally” supported by the national production of crude oil, accompanying gas and renewable sources –, water supply and basic health services.
In this last area, the authorities promised to maintain attention to medical emergencies, maternal and child health and the Cancer Program.
The official speech also stressed that, “to the extent possible”, activities aimed at obtaining foreign currency income, considered necessary for the economic and social development of the country, will be protected.
