Cuba suspends cigar festival amid fuel shortages and U.S. oil blockade
A female worker operates the machine during the rolling process at a mechanized cigar factory in Havana on May 8, 2025.
Adalberto Roque | Afp | Getty Images
The annual cigar festival, scheduled to be held for five days in late February in Cuba’s capital Havana, has been postponed until further notice due to the worsening economic crisis.
The postponement comes as the island nation’s communist-run government faces its biggest test since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Habanos SA, the organizer of the cigar fair, in question On Saturday, it announced it was suspending the festival “in order to maintain the highest standards of quality, excellence and experience that characterize this international event.”
The organizing committee said it was trying to set a new date for the fair, without providing further details.
The festival has been met with great interest before More than 1,000 guests From nearly 80 countries, with participants attending auctions and touring tobacco fields.
Premium Cuban cigars are recognized worldwide and are considered to be of high economic importance, serving as one of the island’s main exports and a major source of foreign currency. But they are illegal in the US due to a decades-old trade embargo.
It was at Habanos last year. SA, a state-run enterprise that has a monopoly on the global sale of Cuban cigars. Reported record sales of $827 million In 2024, this figure reflects a 16% increase compared to the previous year.
A pedicab drives along a street in Havana, Cuba, on February 13, 2026. The fuel crisis in Cuba, and Havana in particular, is forcing many workers who depend on daily mobility to abandon gasoline cars and turn to electric tricycles and bicycle taxis as more accessible alternatives.
Yamil Lage | Afp | Getty Images
Cuba is currently grappling with a severe fuel shortage amid a US oil blockade.
The Trump administration has effectively cut Cuba off from Venezuelan oil since launching a military operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on January 3.
US President Donald Trump has since called on his government to “an unusual and extraordinary threat” and promised to impose tariffs on any country that supplied him with oil.
Condemning US pressure, the Cuban government has recently taken measures to protect essential services and ration fuel supplies to key sectors.
Cuba’s dwindling oil supplies led the United Nations to warn of a possible humanitarian “collapse” earlier in the month.
“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.
