The energy crisis in Cuba threatens international flights due to a lack of fuel. Sanctions and supply cuts exacerbate the shortage, affecting air connectivity and highlighting a fragile energy system.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/42890299

Havana. — The energy crisis in Cuba has reached a critical level that is now directly affecting civil aviation. An official aeronautical notice (NOTAM) from José Martí International Airport in Havana confirms that the terminal is out of Jet A-1 fuel, which is standardly used by commercial aircraft.

The NOTAM, identified as A0356/26 and classified as international, explicitly states: “JET A-1 FUEL NOT AVBL” (no Jet A-1 fuel available). The notice has been active since February 10, 2026, at 05:00 UTC and will remain in effect at least until March 11, 2026, at 05:00 UTC, representing a full month without guaranteed supply at the country’s main airport.

These types of official notices are issued to alert pilots, airlines, and air operators about critical operational conditions. In this case, the lack of fuel means that airplanes cannot refuel in Havana, an extremely serious situation for an international airport that handles the majority of Cuba’s air traffic.

  • floofloof@lemmy.caEnglish
    1743·
    2 days ago

    The lack of aviation fuel is a direct consequence of the deterioration of Cuba’s energy system, exacerbated by the disruption of external supplies and the regime’s inability to ensure stable imports. For years, Cuba relied on oil from Venezuela for much of its energy consumption, a supply that has been interrupted following Nicolás Maduro’s decline.

    What’s with this wording? The fuel is unavailable because the USA illegally invaded Venezuela and stole all its oil, and because the USA is trying to break Cuba through a blockade. And Maduro didn’t “decline”: the USA kidnapped him. It is the USA doing all of this.

    • SippyCup@lemmy.worldEnglish
      19·
      1 day ago

      Because Cuba must be seen as a failing state. The US cannot risk having a successful socialist nation so close by. So it does all the can to sabotage Cuba in hopes that idiots won’t see through the plan.

      It says something that A, quite a few idiots can’t see through the plan and that B, it’s taken 70 years of blockade and multiple invasions of other countries to make Cuba fail. Almost as if socialism works really fucking well and the US is probably dumber than we look.

      • partofthevoice@lemmy.zipEnglish
        21·
        1 day ago

        Capitalism relies on:

        • Competition
        • Self-interest
        • Status-seeking
        • Wealth Accumulation
        • Abstract trust in money, contracts, and institutions

        …it amplifies specific human traits:

        • Ambition
        • Risk-taking
        • Hierarchy formation
        • Exploitation under weak regulation

        This is great for innovation, growth, and resource extraction. But it is dynamically unstable without adequate regulation, because:

        • Wealth concentrates
        • Power decouples from democratic control
        • Externalities accumulate (pollution, burnout, inequality)

        Socialism, on the other hand, can more easily prioritize things like survival over growth, equality over abundance, stability over economic freedom.

        They may not have the capacity for building out a super cool surveillance network off the back of spectacle-driven consumers and their electric/network, so that they can continue farming behavioral data to feature embed on models and sell to the biggest bidder, like your life insurance companies (too bad, I know…). But they sure as shit can be robust to all kinds of embargo, sanction, tariff, … you name it.

    • Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.worldEnglish
      64·
      2 days ago

      On January 3rd, 2026, a small group of US armed forces paid a visit to Northern Venezuela, beginning their tour around 2 A.M. local time, when various elements of Venezuelan infrastructure began to explode. President Maduro and his Wife fled the chaos aboard a US Military aircraft on which they were photographed in cozy-looking sleep masks and wearing shiny new bracelets. They landed in New York to settle into their new accommodations and are expected to begin sharing their experiences in a court of law sometime in March.

      Meanwhile, on the high seas, several Venezuelan oil tankers, otherwise floundering in the chaos, have been seen being escorted by US Naval fleets to various safe harbors along the US coast, where it’s expected their precious cargo will be offloaded for safekeeping.

    • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.caEnglish
      32·
      2 days ago

      Another symptom of the collapse of the model

      An international airport without fuel for weeks is an exceptional and very uncommon situation in countries with functioning economies. In the case of Cuba, this adds to a context marked by daily blackouts, rampant inflation, shortages of food and medicine, a standstill in tourism, and mass emigration. The inability to guarantee fuel for civil aviation not only jeopardizes the country’s connectivity with the outside world, but also highlights the logistical collapse of a model incapable of sustaining basic strategic services. While the regime insists on blaming external factors, the facts demonstrate a deep crisis that is already isolating Cuba, even by air.

      There’s also this gem of a paragraph.