afp/epd/dpa | In response to the energy crisis in Cuba, which has been exacerbated by US sanctions, the government in Havana has announced emergency measures, including the introduction of a four-day week. The austerity measures include a working week shortened to four days in state-owned companies, restrictions on fuel sales and reduced bus and train connections, Deputy Prime Minister Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga said on state television on Friday. The guidelines are intended to save fuel in order to “ensure the viability of our country and basic supplies”.
Visitors from abroad are also partially affected. Tourism as an important source of foreign exchange must be protected, but supply will be concentrated on the holiday destinations with the highest demand, said Pérez-Oliva. Operations at the airports should remain guaranteed. According to a report by the news portal 14ymedio, some hotels on the Los Cayos Islands off the coast of Cuba were closed before the announcement and guests were moved to other facilities.
The aim of the measures is to promote “food and electricity production” and to enable the maintenance of basic economic activities.
The Cuban government also announced the installation of 20,000 solar systems, which include solar panels and batteries for use at night. Solar power will be used to supply nursing homes, daycare centers and community centers as well as banks.
The University of Havana, Cuba’s most prominent university, announced that in-person classes would be suspended for 30 days.
After Capture of left-wing nationalist Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro At the beginning of the year during a US military operation, US President Donald Trump made it clear that he also had other countries in the region in his sights – including Cuba. Trump cut off oil shipments from Venezuela to Cuba, on which the country was heavily dependent. The US President warned at the time that he “urgently advises Havana to conclude a deal before it is too late.” Trump also threatened tariffs against third countries that supply oil to Cuba. Mexico, most recently Cuba’s largest oil supplier, then stopped its deliveries.
At the end of January, Trump further intensified the economic pressure on Cuba: He issued a decree threatening additional US tariffs on states that supply oil to the country. The Cuban government described this as a “brutal act of aggression.”
Cuba is in his worst economic crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union. There have been five nationwide power outages since the end of 2024, some of which lasted several days. People repeatedly have to deal with blackouts, which sometimes last more than 20 hours. The Caribbean state, only about 145 kilometers from the southern tip of Florida, has been subject to a US economic embargo since 1962.