Cuba Cancels May Day Parade Due to Severe Oil Shortage

Cuba usually commemorates May Day through a parade of more than a million people at Havana's Revolution Square. However, this year's May Day parade will be empty as compared to previous ones.

The Guardian noted that the square will be empty after the Cuban Communist party canceled the May Day parade after a severe oil shortage felt around the country.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said the island is only getting two-thirds of the petrol it needs. Supplier nations are also failing to fulfill their contractual agreements.

Jorge Piñon said that it was an "allusion to Venezuela."

Piñon is the director of the University of Texas at Austin, focusing on the Latin America and Caribbean energy and environment program.

Cuba and Venezuela have had a years-long agreement since 2000, with Cuba sending Venezuela doctors, teachers, and allegedly counterintelligence agents in exchange for shipments of oil. However, the deal is believed to being strained.

Piñon said that Venezuela has been losing earnings for not selling oil on the international market.

He added that Venezuela might have just come to the point that they can no longer continue to provide "cash-free oil" to Cuba.

Cuba Cancels May Day Parade

Diaz-Canel said earlier this month that Cuba was only receiving two-thirds of the fuel it needs.

Cuba is known to have used its resources to ensure that the May Day parade will be success. There are instances that authorities have transported workers en masse to Havana, as reported by BBC News.

Cuba's May Day parade had been canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID pandemic before this year due to fuel shortage.

Local events are expected to go ahead instead, with the mass marching on foot.

Head of the Workers' Cuba main trade union, Ulises Guilarte de Nacimiento said that such acts would emphasize the "obstacles to the development programs" due to the economic blockade.

Aside from the lack of fuel supply, Cuba also blames its problems on the ongoing U.S. sanctions. The sanction has been an embargo on trade between the two nations, which was imposed in February 1962.

Long lines have formed at Cuba's petrol stations in recent weeks, with drivers often waiting for days.

Cuba's Oil Shortage

El Pais reported in April that a shortage in fuel has resulted in the paralyzing of all public and private transport, which caused long queues at gas stations.

Hundreds of drivers sleep inside their vehicles for days while waiting for a fuel tanker,

Public transportation in Cuba has been facing problems for several years.

There were only 878 buses to serve a city of over two million residents in December 2021, which was less than half the number traveling in the early 1990s.

Government officials in Cuba also now admit that it was the worst public transportation crisis of the last decade.

Due to the oil shortage on the island, residents are having a more difficult time traveling around Havana and its neighboring areas. Taxis and private cabs are also now charging more due to the situation.

A liter of cooking oil costs around $30 and a kilo of powdered milk is priced at $80 while the average monthly professional salary in Cuba is around $150 to $200.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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