Cuba halts flights as jet fuel shortage deepens under Trump sanctions
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel (C) participated in the “Anti-Imperialist” protest held in front of the US Embassy in Havana on January 16, 2026, against the US attack on Venezuela, in which 32 Cuban soldiers lost their lives.
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Cuba’s communist-run government faces its biggest test since the revolution Collapse of the Soviet Union.
U.S. President Donald Trump has stepped up pressure on the Caribbean island since the Jan. 3 military operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a longtime ally of the Cuban government. Cuba announced that 32 of its citizens died in the attack.
Trump has since effectively cut off Cuba’s connection to Venezuelan oil, calling his government “an unusual and extraordinary threat” and promised to impose tariffs on any country that supplied him with oil.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel condemned this move and said: “Surrender is not an optionHe has since said the government is ready to hold talks with Washington, albeit “without pressure or preconditions”.
The country has warned that international airlines will no longer be able to refuel in the country due to fuel shortages. Hit by a worsening economic crisis, the Cuban government recently adopted rationing measures to protect essential services and ration fuel supplies for key sectors.
plan reportedly These include restricting fuel sales, closing some tourist facilities, shortening school days and reducing the working week in state-owned companies to four days from Monday to Thursday.
“The current situation in Cuba is as serious as it has been since the 1990s, when Cuba suddenly had to survive without the support of the Eastern Bloc,” Par Kumaraswami, professor of Latin American Studies at the University of Nottingham, UK, told CNBC via email.
The chances of President Miguel Díaz-Canel being removed from power by a Maduro-style managed transition in the coming weeks or months are diminishing.
Robert Munks
Head of research for the Americas at Verisk Maplecroft
Kumaraswami said Trump’s tariff threats were a deterrent for many countries.
Mexico has sent humanitarian aid but suspended oil shipments as it tries to preserve its relationship with Havana while avoiding Trump’s tariffs.
Kumaraswami said that “of course there was frustration with the difficulties of daily life” but “many Cubans were determined to resist threats to their national sovereignty and a new wave of patriotism was emerging.”
‘An accelerating collapse’
Air Canada then canceled all flights The airline said Monday it would bring home about 3,000 customers to Cuba in the coming days due to fuel shortages.
Tourism is a major source of revenue for Cuba’s cash-strapped government, and the country is a popular winter holiday destination for Canadian tourists.
A Turkish Airlines plane takes off from Jose Marti International Airport in Havana on February 9, 2026.
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Unlike previous crises, the Cuban regime lacks foreign partners who could help, according to Robert Munks, head of Americas research at risk intelligence firm Verisk Maplecroft.
“The USA raised the bar and limited Cuba’s access to foreign currency and put pressure on Nicaragua. End of visa-free travel For the Cubans,” Munks told CNBC via email.
Munks said the government’s promise to increase the use of limited renewable energy sources was probably “too little, too late”. He added that it was possible for civil unrest to break out, given that the island’s domestic energy production was far less than what was needed to keep the lights on.
“The increasing collapse of basic services will put the regime under extreme pressure to find a negotiated solution,” Munks said. he said.
He added that “it is less likely that Díaz-Canel will be forced from power by a Maduro-style managed transition in the coming months,” but Munks said it is more likely that “the regime will try to stir things up” by the US midterm elections in November.
Cuba’s dwindling oil supplies led the United Nations last week to warn of a possible humanitarian “collapse”.
“The Secretary-General is extremely concerned that the humanitarian situation in Cuba will deteriorate further and collapse if its oil needs are not met.” in question UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric.
A big test for BRICS
Cuba’s emergency measures should be seen as a vital test for the BRICS bloc of developing countries, according to Helen Yaffe, a Cuba expert and professor of Latin American political economy at Scotland’s University of Glasgow.
“This is probably the most important test for BRICS right now… If BRICS cannot protect, defend and rally around a member, then what is it worth?” Yaffe told CNBC by phone.
Cuba received the “partner country” status of the BRICS group in January last year, strengthening its ties with countries such as Brazil, Russia and China. As a matter of fact, each of these three countries has tried to offer support to Cuba in recent days.
The Mexican government sent humanitarian aid to the Cuban people with two ships belonging to the Mexican Navy. On February 9, 2026, more than 800 tons of materials were transported by sea from Asipona in Veracruz, Mexico.
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Chinese foreign ministry spokesman in question He said on Tuesday that Beijing “resolutely stands against inhumane acts that deprive the Cuban people of their right to live and develop.” They added that China would try to provide assistance to Cuba “as always.”
Russia, meanwhile, described Havana’s fuel situation as “truly critical” and said U.S. attempts to put more pressure on the country were causing numerous problems.
“The Cuban government will not yield,” Yaffe said. “Fact is that, [the U.S. is] “We will continue to clamp down and Cubans will continue to resist and there will be a lot of unnecessary suffering.”
He added: “I’m a historian and it’s very arrogant for historians to try to predict the future but we can look at the trends – and I can guarantee you that we were here before in the early 1990s, no one thought Cuba would recover and succeed – and they did.”
