Havana / Miami /The shipping company Cubamax has reactivated door-to-door deliveries in the western region of Cuba, but the return is accompanied by an increase in rates that once again puts the focus on the fuel crisis on the Island. According to testimonies collected by this newspaper, the company has raised the charge for every 100 dollars sent in cash from 10 to 12 dollars, justifying the increase in the price of gasoline, which today has become “the new gold” in a country with transportation practically collapsed.
Restoration of service occurs after weeks of interruptions that affected both the distribution of packages and the home delivery of remittances, a vital channel for thousands of Cuban families who depend on money sent from abroad. The measure also confirms the growing dependence on private and semi-private operators to sustain financial flows to the Island amid sanctions, banking restrictions and the inefficiency of state structures.
A client who recently visited a new company location in Miami described the relaunch atmosphere to this medium. “This new Cubamax office opened just a week ago, in an area where several Cubans live. It was empty and there were only two employees, very friendly,” he said. According to his testimony, the place is still in the user acquisition phase. “They are still looking for clients. They even gave us cards to distribute among friends.”
The new rate sets the cost at $12 per 100 shipped
The workers confirmed the restart of home service in the west of the Island. “They have already begun to deliver to houses in Pinar del Río, Havana, Artemisa, Mayabeque and Matanzas,” they explained, according to the source.
The most noticeable change for customers is the increase in the commission for sending cash. “Before, they charged 10 dollars for every 100 that were sent in remittances. But the couriers in Cuba complained about the price of gasoline. It was not profitable to do it for that price, so it was decided to raise two more dollars,” the employees said. The new rate sets the cost at $12 per 100 shipped.
In recent weeks, 14ymedio has documented the chronic fuel shortagethe long lines at service centers and the drastic reduction of public and private transport. In this context, any service that depends on mobility – from buses to messaging – has been forced to readjust prices or reduce operations.
The informal fuel market continues to operate with astonishing efficiency
However, the reactivation of home delivery itself raises questions that many customers ask quietly. The witness consulted himself sums it up with irony: “Suddenly they get gasoline when there should be less every day, since no oil tanker has arrived?”
Another client in Cuba offers a version that qualifies the story of the interruptions. According to what he told this newspaper, when he asked one of the Cubamax distributors he received a revealing answer: “they are even bringing the fuel from there.” The woman who assisted him insinuated, in practice, that the company would be operating with its own supply of gasoline.
The interlocutor tried to obtain more details. “I told him: ‘It’s extremely dangerous to be moving fuel from here to there,’ but he replied: ‘They know what they’re doing because they’re very professional.’” The phrase reveals a recurring suspicion on the Island: that the informal fuel market continues to function with astonishing efficiency.
The packages that were supposed to be held in collection centers ended up arriving “at the door” of the recipients
The same testimony also relativizes the magnitude of the alleged suspension of service. In Havana, the source states, home deliveries barely stopped. Between the announcement of the stoppage and the formal reactivation, the packages that were supposed to be held in collection centers ended up arriving “at the door” of the recipients.
Personal experience seems to confirm it: of the shipments made by a relative of his, “almost all have already arrived,” and only one heavier one is pending, which, although it is already in Cuba, has not yet been distributed. In other words, the “delay” that companies complain about has barely been felt in some homes.
Maritime monitoring data and recent energy reports indicate that crude oil shipments to Cuba have been zero since January, with the exception of some isotanks (25,000 liter tank containers) of fuel managed by MSMEs. In this scenario, the logistical capacity of companies linked to the remittance circuit usually generates suspicions among users.
For many families, however, the priority remains the arrival of money, even at a higher cost. Internal inflation, the growing dollarization of trade and the fall in the purchasing power of the Cuban peso have turned remittances into an essential lifeline. In that context, the increase of two dollars per 100 sent may seem marginal from the outside, but within Cuba it translates into less cash available for food, medicine or transportation.
