Havana/Some customers call it “La Navecita”, because it is smaller and emerged after La Nave, the famous “Cuban Uber”, but the popularity that this service gained among travelers – due to its cheaper prices and because, unlike its predecessor, it could be contracted without having to resort to the difficult internet connection – is of little use to it now. Today, these private transportation agencies are among the most affected by the fuel crisisexacerbated by the United States oil siege. “We only have two cars working this Tuesday,” the operator’s voice assured an impatient customer waiting to go from Nuevo Vedado to Old Havana.
According to 14ymedio one of its managers, “more than 80% of La Navecita drivers have stopped accepting fares in the last month.” Until a few weeks ago, it was enough to call a couple of mobile numbers and tell the details of the trip: destination, currency with which payment was going to be made, how many people would be traveling and whether suitcases or pets were included. In a brief conversation, the customer was informed of the price and, if he accepted, in a few minutes a white Lada, a red Moskvich or a modern Citröen would pick it up at his doorstep.
Everything went wrong last January, just when the United States intervened in Venezuela, captured Nicolás Maduro and, on the one hand, decreed the end of fuel shipments to the Island from Caracas and, on the other, threatened countries that did so with tariffs. “First, there was no gasoline that was not in dollars and that put many drivers out of business,” says the source. Drivers pay a sum to be included in each day’s programming, and then transfer a percentage of what they earned in each race to the owners of the MSME. But they cannot say in the morning “I am ready to pick up passengers” if they do not have fuel or the certainty that they will get it soon. Nobody in Havana, right now, can have that security.
But they cannot say in the morning “I am ready to pick up passengers” if they do not have fuel or the certainty that they will get it soon. Nobody in Havana, right now, can have that security
“We were doing well, we were growing and displacing some competitors but right now we are considering closing operations,” acknowledges the manager. “Nothing more than the salaries of the operators, the payment of licenses and other costs that we have, we lose a lot of money and we do not have enough drivers circulating to be able to replace it.” Although they have incorporated electric tricycles and even motorcycles into the workforce, “we have not been able to compensate for what we have lost because before we made a lot of long trips, we took people to the airport and they asked us a lot at dawn. We can no longer guarantee any of that.”
The case of “La Navecita” is similar to that of the vast majority of small businesses on the Island. According to a report signed by Oniel Díaz Castellanos and published by the consulting firm Auge, the oil shortage affects no less than more than 96% of Cuban MSMEs. “When blackouts in Cuba reach 20 hours a day and fuel on the black market exceeds six dollars per liter, thousands of Cuban entrepreneurs ask themselves the same question: can my business survive this energy crisis?” asks the author.
Based on data from the Statistics and Information Office (Onei), the consultant draws a detailed map for the 9,236 MSMEs registered in the country – dated 2024 –, explaining where they are concentrated and which may be more harmed by this unprecedented crisis than in the worst moments of the Special Period. Thus, he explains that 43% of the private business fabric is concentrated in Havana, so “what happens in the capital – the blackouts, the availability of fuel, the import measures – will determine the fate of almost 4,000 companies.”
Díaz Castellanos classifies firms into three levels of dependence – critical, high and moderate – depending on the activity they engage in and how long they can survive without fuel. The first are those that could not, such as a textile workshop, “which cannot turn on its machines,” or a restaurant, “which loses all of its inventory if refrigeration fails.” The second are those that can function without electricity but their operation is significantly reduced, such as a store that sells non-perishable items, which can only operate “in daylight” and in no case sell fresh products, and the third, those that can survive, despite the effects. This may be the case of a consultant, he gives as an example, who can work with his laptop and small equipment, as long as you have the opportunity to charge them at some point.
The list yields a “strong” conclusion: “96.4% of Cuban private MSMEs (8,904 companies) face an impact that ranges from severe to catastrophic due to fuel shortages.”
The consultant recalls in this report that the First business climate study for Cuban MSMEs, made by Auge last Decemberalready reflected that the energy crisis “was a central concern” and that although managers “trusted their internal capacity,” “they distrusted the environment.” Indeed, in that report, 76% of the businessmen surveyed said they felt optimistic or very optimistic about 2026, while 60% predicted that the national economy would do somewhat or much worse this year.
Indeed, in that report, 76% of the businessmen surveyed said they felt optimistic or very optimistic about 2026, while 60% predicted that the national economy would do somewhat or much worse this year.
“While a significant part of companies acknowledge having improved or maintained their situation in 2025 thanks to their own efforts, the majority projects a decidedly pessimistic national outlook for 2026,” says Díaz Castellanos. “The energy crisis has confirmed that pessimism: no matter how much individual effort is put in, if the energy system collapses, the business collapses with it.”
The consultant does not mention at any time the factors that have worsened the energy crisis or propose possible solutions, but announces that this article will be the first of several. In future installments, he says, he will address specific impacts in each sector, who can really access the direct import of fuel and “practical recommendations for entrepreneurs who are trying to keep their businesses afloat in this scenario.”
Hugo, a small businessman from Havana, only finds one solution: “pause everything until the worst is over.” His business, a food and beverage store near Ayestarán and 20 de Mayo streets, in the municipality of Cerro, had imported beer as its star product, which “had managed to maintain a low price compared to the other stores in this neighborhood.” He had it for sale between 230 and 260 pesos, but he can no longer sustain that price.
“That beer was brought to me by a supplier who was looking for it directly in Mariel, from a Chinese company that is there.” That is to say, few intermediaries and expeditious transfers allowed Hugo to maintain a price cheaper than the 300 or 350 pesos at which imported beer is sold in his area. “I had been earning a lot for months because everyone knew that I had the cheapest and always cold one,” he remembers.
The rest of the food that Hugo sells in his little shop cannot compensate for the loss of beer income. “I promised my wife that in March I will liquidate everything if the partner who is looking for things in Mariel cannot stabilize the fuel supply.”
