Alert in the tourism sector: Cuba is running out of jet fuel

Cuba has run out of jet fuel, further proof of the effects of the US oil stranglehold on an island that It was already immersed in a serious economic and energy crisisCuban authorities informed airlines this Sunday that, starting Monday, they would not have enough fuel to fill their tanks, and companies with daily flights to the island—mainly American, Spanish, Mexican, and Panamanian—have begun taking emergency measures. Spanish airlines Air Europa and Iberia, with daily routes to Havana, have opted to maintain flights from Madrid but have announced that from now on they will include a refueling stop in the Dominican Republic. Meanwhile, airlines from Canada, the island's primary source of tourism, have begun readjusting frequencies and routes, as well as offering cancellations or changes to reservations without penalty to customers. One of these companies is Air Canada, Canada's main airline, which announced on Monday that it will immediately suspend its services to Cuba due to the fuel shortage. However, it has announced that in the coming days it will send empty planes to Cuba "to pick up the approximately 3,000 customers" who are on the island and need to return to Canada. According to the notice from Cuban authorities to pilots, the restrictions affect all nine of Cuba's international airports and are currently valid for one month, from February 10 to March 11. Impact on tourism

The sector most affected by the fuel supply cut is tourism. This activity, essential to the Cuban economy, which has been under pressure for decades due to US sanctions, has experienced a sharp decline as a result of Washington's oil blockade. First, on January 3, the White House ended oil shipments from Venezuela, which was its main supplier of crude. And On January 29, he threatened tariffs on countries that supply oil to the island.This has virtually cut off the flow of Venezuelan crude and forced countries like Mexico to suspend shipments. Although he hasn't openly admitted it, Donald Trump has promoted a policy of strangling the island with the aim of economically collapsing the Cuban regime, at the expense of the poor living conditions of its population. Trump asserted that Cuba "is about to fall" and publicly stated that the Caribbean nation cannot survive without Venezuela's support, thus pressuring the Cuban government to reach an "agreement" with the United States. To cope with the lack of imports, the island's authorities have approved an emergency package that includes the objective of "reducing hotel infrastructure." As the EFE news agency has confirmed, several hotels in the country—mainly in Varadero and in the north—have closed their doors urgently and transferred tourists to other facilities as a cost-saving measure. Tourism in Cuba was already in decline due to the combination of the pandemic, US sanctions, and the country's economic crisis. In seven years, it has lost three-quarters of its visitors: last year ended with only 1.8 million international visitors, compared to 4.7 million in 2018.