Cuba runs on oil, and the oil is running out. Since the island produces less than a third of the oil it requires, it relies on imports – from Venezuela, Mexico, and other countries, like Russia. My colleagues mapped out in an interactive graphic how imports have struggled in the past year. Then, they all but dried up after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was captured by US military in January 2026.

In late March, the US allowed a Russia-flagged tanker to deliver some 700,000 barrels of crude, but those will last roughly through mid-April, even under rationing. And residents are already living with regular blackouts, food shortages, and tap water instability.

“The Americans need to let us live a little, let us breathe,” said Havana resident Ismael de la Luz, 67, adding it was the people, not the government, suffering most from the blackouts and shortages. “We’re in a really bad way.”