A US-imposed oil blockade on Cuba has effectively collapsed the island’s tourism industry, grounding international flights, shuttering hotels and cutting off one of the Cuban economy’s last functioning sources of foreign currency.
The crisis began in December 2025, when the United States seized tankers carrying Venezuelan oil destined for Cuba, before President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14380 on January 29, 2026, imposing tariffs on any country that directly or indirectly supplies oil to Cuba. Mexico halted its shipments after Trump threatened tariffs on Mexican exports, removing Cuba’s two principal oil suppliers almost simultaneously.
The impact on travel has been swift and severe. Cuba suspended refuelling for airliners at its airports, including José Martí International Airport, after exhausting the country’s fuel supply. Hotels standing near empty have been shuttered and flights from Russia and Canada cancelled as there is not enough jet fuel on the island for longer international flights. Both the UK and Canada have warned citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Cuba.
Prior to the blockade, Cuba’s tourism sector was already under strain following the Covid-19 pandemic, and Hurricane Melissa last year swept five provinces, displacing more than 735,000 people while destroying homes and basic infrastructure.
The energy crisis has led to blackouts of up to 10 hours, forced reductions in working hours and severely limited transportation, compounding the drop in tourist arrivals. A near-total grid collapse on March 16 left roughly 10mn Cubans without electricity, according to Cuban authorities and the US Embassy in Havana.
In late February, the US Treasury Department said it would allow the resale of Venezuelan oil for commercial and humanitarian use to private companies in Cuba, though that partial relief is unlikely to meet the approximately 100,000 barrels a day the island needs.
Cuba is now preparing to receive what would be its first oil shipment in three months, aboard the Russian-flagged Anatoly Kolodkin. Jorge Piñón, an expert at the University of Texas Energy Institute, told the Associated Press the tanker is carrying 730,000 barrels of fuel and is expected to reach the island within 10 days.
“Cuba has been experiencing significant material shortages for many years, and now those shortages have been exacerbated by the oil embargo,” said Ricardo Torres, an economist and fellow at American University. “The shortages have reached levels that threaten people’s lives.” — NBC News