Despite the incessant arrival of tankers with all kinds of hydrocarbons in the main ports of the country, the director of Cuba Petróleo (Cupet), Néstor Pérez Franco, insists that the island has problems with fuel imports. And, by the way, he refutes the rumors that attribute the shortage to the export of refined gasoline on the Island, with the aim of obtaining foreign currency.
“For several months we have had limitations on imports of refinable crudes and derivatives of diesel and gasoline, as explained by the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O, in an interview on April 12,” said to cubadebate the manager, who stated that the refineries cannot process as they should, preventing the necessary fuel for the economy and the population from being guaranteed.
“We cannot allow things to be misrepresented, nor create more disagreements than we already have with the shortages that we all suffer, and that we are working to reduce as soon as possible”
“We cannot allow things to be misrepresented, nor create more disagreements than we already have with the shortages that we all suffer, and that we are working to reduce as soon as possible,” he added. The protests have begun to be seen in some parts of the island And, although for now they have not acquired any magnitude, what happened in the summer of 2022 could be repeated, something that generates fear in the Government.
Pérez Franco explained that “one of the closest suppliers” of refinable crude and derivatives – he did not name it, but everything indicates that it is Venezuela – “since the war to which they have been subjected with sabotage to their facilities and limitations of spare parts and resources, have guaranteed the supply of some products that somewhat alleviate the existing situation, but do not cover all demands”.
In addition, the executive added that, since consumption cannot be guaranteed, it is impossible to export gasoline and that, with regard to refinable crude, “although it is true that they could guarantee the country’s consumption, with the limitations that have been tax on imports and high market prices, it is very difficult for the country to access this product”.
The authorities thus try to settle the doubts sown from a theory put forward by the specialist Jorge Piñon, director of the Energy Program for Latin America and the Caribbean at the University of Texas. Last week, the expert questioned the statements of the Minister of Energy and Mines in statements to Marti News and based it on the shipments received from Venezuela and Russia.
He first sentaccording to Reuters data, a large shipment –1.53 million barrels of fuel oil and heavy oil– to the Island at the end of March, while from the second 980,000 barrels of diesel arrived in Cuba, Uruguay and Panama in the same month.
“It is one of the possibilities that the need for money and the need for foreign exchange is so great that they are willing to sacrifice domestic demand and create this situation (…) It could backfire on them from a political point of view and social and even economic. But it is possible, because it has happened in other years, that Cuba is exporting gasoline, once again, to generate the foreign currency it needs,” suggested Piñon in the middle, based in Miami.
Among the comments to the denial of the Cupet manager, the idea was very present, although others gave alternative options. “That suggestion not even dreaming. The parade goes on foot or by bicycle”
The statements spread like wildfire on social networks and have generated a lot of discomfort in a population that has spent weeks queuing at gas stations without being able to access a drop of fuel, the lack of which also affects the generation of electricity. The shortage is already so evident that this weekend the modification of the classes has been announced in several Cuban universities, who have had to rethink how to follow the course in such adverse circumstances. In some cases, distance classes have been chosen and in others the return to classrooms is postponed until after the May 1st festivity, whose parade continues.
He maintenance of the fastos It is another of the causes of the indignation among the population, which cannot understand how it is not proposed to suspend an event that generates so much demand for fuel when the population suffers from shortages and companies face suspension of activity. Among the comments to the denial of the Cupet manager, the idea was very present, although others gave alternative options. “That suggestion not even dreaming. The parade goes on foot or by bicycle,” replied a reader.
Proposals abound in the note, from those who suggest organizing the supply by the letter of the car’s license plate to those who consider that gasoline should be stopped, even if it is difficult, and those who add that consumption should be charged in freely convertible currency of tourism vehicles.
Although many appreciate the director’s explanations in order to “cut hoaxes”, another reader raised the possibility that there is a third party that is in charge of the work that Cuba Petróleo denies doing. “The clarity is that Cupet does not export. Now, my question: Does Cupet have an export license? Because the question is: Is Cuba exporting or are the mixed companies that export, which is possible and logical. And nothing to claim, they are mixed entities or SA 100% and pay Cuba for using and exploiting the refineries”.
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