Madrid/Gasoline restrictions have also reached diplomatic representatives with a presence in Cuba. The Foreign Ministry has sent a circular to embassies and international organizations informing that, as of February 11, fuel will be limited at the El Túnel service center, which supplies the delegations accredited in Havana. The document has been spread on social networks by several Cuban communicators abroad.
According to the circular, dated Tuesday the 10th, vehicles have – like citizens – a limit of 20 liters per day, although luck has been uneven. The luckiest country is Russia, with four vehicles authorized every day, from Monday to Saturday. On the same days of the week, the delegations of China, Spain, the United States, France, Mexico, Venezuela and Vietnam, as well as the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), have permission to refuel three cars a day.
The next group, with two vehicles a day and also from Monday to Saturday, is made up of Germany, Angola, Canada, Italy and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Finally, there is an extensive list with all other countries and organizations, to which a single vehicle corresponds on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. According to the note, the decision is in accordance with the number of vehicles that each delegation has.
The sale of fuel will begin at 8 in the morning and will stop only when the service of the vehicles authorized for that day ends, although the circular warns that the allocation will also depend on the availability of gasoline in the country.
“The Ministry informs the Honorable Diplomatic Missions and International Organizations that they can also access, through the Ticket platform, the purchase of fuel at other service centers in foreign currency,” the document adds. However, this alternative route, which is the only option for citizens, is working very poorly and poorly.
This Tuesday, the Telegram channel that the state corporation Cimex, which manages the service centers, is using to inform users had to give explanations due to the confusion generated since this has become the way to sign up for the waiting list. Among the clarifications, the company detailed that customers can take “the fuel that does not fit in the tank of their vehicle” and responded to another of the questions that generated the most doubts: “For the moment, only power plants and vehicles assembled by parts and pieces registered in Havana can be registered in the service.”
For this Wednesday, Sancti Spíritus only distributes 77 shifts, distributed in four gas stations throughout the province, although the situation is worse in Guantánamo, where it is expected that there will be three open service centers, with 52 deliveries in total.
In any case, users continue to report that, even the lucky few who get one of the few available slots, do not receive the message to buy. “Apart from the fact that we have CUP money on the cards – a user denounced -. In this country you don’t earn in dollars, nor do we all have a family member abroad who can send them. I trust that it will be temporary.” But another responded: “Here what is temporary becomes permanent.”
