Fuel shortage: How the Cubans are coping with the crisis

Power outages, fuel shortages, rising prices: the tightened US sanctions are hitting the people in Cuba hard. In Havana they are trying to do something to counter the crisis. With music, entrepreneurship

Weltspiegel Economic hardship How the Cubans are enduring the crisis As of: November 15, 2026 • 10:46 a.m

David Gonzalez is stressed. Like every week, the 29-year-old transforms his house in Havana into a party location. Friends set up the bar and brought in a music system. David, 29 years old, tattoos, nose ring, casual look, tries the drinks they give him.

They charge 50 cents for the party evening, which is enough to cover the costs. "We want to show that despite all the adversities you can still do something beautiful here in Cuba," he says. And while the lights go out outside in the neighborhood due to a power cut, he's doing the sound check.

Havana remains dark outside, but the dancing continues inside. David Gonzalez throws parties - despite all odds.

The energy crisis has Cuba firmly in its grip. Since US President Donald Trump blocked oil deliveries to Cuba, the already tense supply situation has worsened drastically. As a result, cinemas, theaters and cultural centers also had to close.

With David, on the other hand, there are still readings, concerts and political debates. "People come here to be happy," says David, "and I always say: sometimes that's the best way to do politics in Cuba." His generation doesn't want to let the crisis take away its youth.

The secret of why everything is still running smoothly for David despite the energy crisis lies one floor below. A battery from Spain, ten kilowatt hours capacity. It supplies the refrigerator, the music system and enables movie nights, while the public power grid can hardly be relied on.

“If we have regular electricity here for 20 hours a week, that’s a luxury,” says David. On the floor above him, the party gets going. Generation Z dances to Queen. Forget the crisis for a few hours, switch off, feel free. That's what they care about.

When the state is no longer able to provide for the population, ingenuity is sometimes rewarded. Alternative garbage collection operates here with financial support from private individuals.

But outside the party oasis, problems are omnipresent. Alexis Nueva feels it every day. He collects garbage on Havana's streets with a small electric vehicle. In many places, rubbish piles up on the side of the road because even the regular rubbish collection system lacks fuel.

If the garbage stays around in the heat for too long, bugs and mosquitoes come, says his colleague Michel. Alexis used to be a bus driver, but because of the lack of gasoline there was no longer any work for him. He then hired a small business owner, Yasiel Hernández Román. He had the idea of alternative garbage collection. The state pays part of the cleaning fee, the other part comes from private individuals or hotels.

Now the company keeps the area clean with 46 employees and 15 electric vehicles. A small success story that others are now imitating, says Yasiel proudly.

As an entrepreneur, he is fortunately not affected by the US sanctions, which make payments, loans and imports extremely difficult. "But many entrepreneurs are literally being suffocated. They can't get a lot of goods into the country and are practically paralyzed."

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For Cuba expert Bert Hoffmann from the Hamburg GIGA Institute, the energy blockade is particularly devastating. Since January, only one oil tanker has been allowed to dock in Cuba. The USA uses energy as a weapon, says Hoffmann.

Without electricity, food spoils, water pumps stop, everyday life becomes grueling, the garbage workers Alexis and Michel also report: nights without a fan, hardly any sleep, no possibility to cook - that pushes many to their psychological limits.

Hoffmann also observes that the mood has changed. “People have few expectations,” he says. In February, many people speculated about what would happen next, whether help would come from Russia and whether the USA would intervene. In the meantime, according to the expert, people have settled into a situation that is actually almost unbearable for many.

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The Cuban government has introduced many economic reforms. The socialist state opened up more to private companies and new businesses emerged. But the Cuba expert observes that Cubans who receive money from relatives abroad can pay for the goods. For people who earn in Cuban pesos, life is becoming more and more expensive.

Hoffmann was in the country in February and now again in November. The peso, he reports, has lost more than half of its value against the euro in just a few months. Wages and pensions are not keeping pace. Those who don't have foreign currencies such as dollars or euros can hardly make ends meet.

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What's next? So far, increasingly strict US sanctions have not brought about any political opening. Hoffmann believes that Trump wants to break Cuba above all as a political symbol.

But unlike in Venezuela, where Trump had ruler Nicolas Maduro taken out of the country in January and where his vice president now governs in the interests of the USA, Cuba's elite appears relatively closed. A “soft landing,” as expert Hoffmann calls an agreement with concessions from both sides, is not in sight.

Those who suffer are people like Alexis. In order to earn extra money, he repairs electrical appliances on the side. And the next problem is already waiting at home: no water. "Sometimes the cistern is empty and we are left without water."

And the question of the future is also part of the celebration at David's party. David himself doesn't want to leave Cuba. "Sure, a lot of my friends left. But there are also a lot of great people who stay who want to be part of something." Havana remains dark outside, but the dancing continues inside. For a few hours they create a space where there is hardly any left.

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This topic in the program: The First | World Mirror | 11/15/2026 | 6:30 p.m