The fuel crisis in Cuba is far from over, and it is not only reflected in the empty streets of the citiesbut in the unaffordable prices of private transport.
“Unfortunately we have a high demand and low availability of vehicles due to lack of fuel,” a highly respected agency in the capital excused itself this Sunday for its efficiency. “We have only been able to locate a driver who can do the service but he sets a price of 1,000 CUP.”
They had been called by María, a resident of Nuevo Vedado who had just been granted a family reunification visa by the United States on behalf of her son and who needed a service early this Monday from her home to the Manuel Fajardo hospital, where she would collect the results of the test. necessary medical check for the consular interview at the embassy. A journey of less than three kilometers.
“I’ve been using them for months because a friend recommended them to me. They transferred her to a consular appointment the day after Hurricane Ian passed, when the city was full of branches and several blocked streets,” the woman explained to this newspaper to demonstrate the seriousness of the company
“All this in the same municipality of Plaza de la Revolución, that is, that price for a very short stretch, because the rest of the way was going to be done on foot”
This Sunday morning, they informed him that the service would cost him 600 pesos, which he accepted. “But the hours went by and they didn’t send me the model of the car and the name of the driver, as they always do,” continues María, “so I contacted them again in the afternoon.” It was then that they told him that the price would be one thousand pesos. “All this in the same municipality of Plaza de la Revolución, that is, that price for a very short stretch, because the rest of the way was going to be done on foot.” She had to say yes, although the price almost doubled in a few hours, “because I couldn’t go at dawn with my passport on me, because of the insecurity situation.”
Another consequence of the gasoline shortage is being suffered by messaging platforms, such as Mandao. An employee of this company tells 14ymedio that at the moment only those who have a bicycle or an electric motorcycle are working on the delivery. The young man, who has a bicycle, explains that his daily services have multiplied: “Before, we were the least valued because everything goes a little slower with the pedal stroke and many businesses did not want us to deal with shipments, but now that there are no gasoline have realized that our fuel is human, you don’t have to buy it at gas stations”.
Of course, the law of supply and demand does not forgive and, thus, pedicabs have also raised their costs. “All prices go up,” complained a client who refused a service this Monday. “In that the revolution does advance.”
On Friday, the president Miguel Diaz-Canel he tried to offer explanations for the lack of fuel but, as on other occasions, he only pointed to scapegoats. “The countries that have certain commitments with us to supply us with gasoline based on the agreements we have have also been in a complex energy situation,” he said at a meeting in Santa Clara with provincial party leaders.
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