Cuba Announces No More Fuel for International Airlines

Cuba’s government says international airlines can’t refuel on the island nation starting Monday.

Cuban authorities issued an official Notice to Airmen over the weekend, warning that kerosene shortages are affecting all of Cuba’s international airports, the Spanish news agency EFE reports.

The notice is good for one month, meaning international planes won’t be able to refuel in Cuba before March 11.

“JET A1 FUEL NOT AVBL,” the coded message states.

The notice affected nine Cuban airports. The majority of Cuba’s international flights connect the island to destinations in Florida, Mexico, Spain, or Panama, EFE reports.

Political leaders and experts predicted a fuel shortage in Cuba following the Trump administration’s capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro at the beginning of January and its move to cut off Cuba from Venezuelan oil.

Until Jan. 3, Venezuela was the central financial support of Cuba, primarily through oil.

After the U.S. captured Maduro, President Donald Trump signed an executive order at the end of January imposing tariffs on imported goods from nations that supply oil to Cuba.

Trump has called Cuba a “failed nation,” and Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the Trump administration “would love to see the regime there change.”

“There’s no doubt about the fact that it would be of great benefit to the United States if Cuba was no longer governed by an autocratic regime,” Rubio recently said while testifying before members of Congress.

President Miguel Díaz-Canel is the public face of Cuba’s dictatorship, but former President Raúl Castro retains significant power over the regime.

Díaz-Canel said Thursday that Cuba is willing to engage with the U.S. in negotiations but also warned that “surrender isn’t an option for Cuba.”

While Díaz-Canel told the press that Cuba is not “in a state of war,” he added that the island nation is “preparing ourselves in case we have to move to a state of war.”