Havana's streets were eerily quiet Monday asemergency measuresto conserveCuba's fast-dwindling fuel supplies kicked in to counteract the paralysing effects ofeconomic pressure from US President Donald Trump.
With oil supplies in a US stranglehold, the communist government has had to cut the work week for state-owned companies and reduce in-person school anduniversityhours as it limited fuel sales.
Cuba warned international airlines that jet fuel will no longer be available on the island beginning Tuesday. Air Canada said it was suspending service to the island starting Monday.
The government also announced the closure of certain hotels with low occupancy rates and the consolidation of tourists in other hotels.
Hotels are being closed in Varadero, Cuba's flagship beach resort, located 150km fromHavana, and in other provinces, a professional in the sector who did not wish to give her name confirmed to AFP.
The few Cubans who were out and about in the capital Monday said they were worried.
"One wonders how long a country can live under such conditions," nurse Rosa Ramos, 37, said, adding the fuel-saving measures were creating "a lot of uncertainty".
With public transport also cut back, Ramos had been waiting for over an hour for a taxi or bus to get to work.
Users of private taxis noted that fares had shot up overnight from about 200 pesos (40 US cents) to 350 pesos.
The island of 9.6 million inhabitants, under a US trade embargo since 1962, has for years been mired in a severe economic crisis marked by extendedpower cutsand shortages of fuel, medicine and food.
It has now also been cut off from critical oil supplies from Venezuela, whose leaderNicolas Maduro was toppledin a deadly US military strike last month.
Trump has also threatened to impose tariffs onany country that provides oil to the island nationhe has said is "ready to fall".
The resulting shortages have threatened to plunge Cuba into complete darkness, with power plants struggling to keep the lights on.
On Sunday, it was announced long-haul flights will not be able to refuel on the island for at least a month.
'Cruel aggression'
Trump and Secretary of StateMarco Rubio, the Miami-born son of Cuban immigrants, have made no secret of their desire to bring about regime change in Havana.
Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez on Monday denounced the "cruel aggression" of the United States, which he said was aimed at "breaking the political will of the Cuban people".
"The situation is tough and will demand great sacrifice," said Rodriguez, reiterating Cuba's "willingness to engage in dialogue",though on its own terms.
Read moreCuba willing to talk with US but 'without pressure or preconditions'
On Sunday, Deputy Prime Minster Oscar Perez-Oliva Fraga announced a set of emergency measures to ration whatever fuel is left to "protect essential services for the population and indispensable economic activities".
He said these includedfoodandelectricityproduction and "fundamental activities that generate foreign currency".
The president ofMexico, which used to be Cuba's second-biggest oil provider after Venezuela, said Monday that sanctions that harm the people of Cuba were "not right".
"We will continue supporting them and taking all necessary diplomatic actions to restore oil shipments" to Cuba,Claudia Sheinbaumtold reporters.
"You cannot strangle a people like this it's very unfair, very unfair."
Sheinbaum had previously warned of a humanitarian crisis in Cuba, but is keen to avoid putting her own country at risk oftariffsfrom the United States, Mexico's main trading partner.
Mexico is seeking an agreement with Washington that would allow it to resume oilexportsto Havana. On Sunday, it sent two ships with over 800 tons ofhumanitarian aid.
TheKremlin, too, accused Washington on Monday of using "suffocating measures" against Cuba.
"We are discussing possible solutions with our Cuban friends, at least to provide whatever assistance we can," spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)
Originally published on France24
