Photo montage by El Toque
By Yenys Laura Prieto (El Toque)
HAVANA TIMES – There is fuel for police patrol cars, but not to provide electricity to families. Between May 11 and 16, 2026, various citizen reports showed a heavy deployment of police vehicles in the streets of Havana.
That same week, the Minister of Energy and Mines said that the Russian fuel had run out. He summarized the electricity generation problem this way: “(Mariel has no fuel at all, Havana has no fuel at all (…). We have absolutely no fuel oil or diesel.” Despite this, the regime has continued prioritizing control. But fear could not silence the outraged voices of dozens of Cubans who took to the streets demanding electricity and freedom.
Images verified by El Toque confirmed the arrest of a resident in the Ayestaran and Tulipan area. In one of the videos, several citizens warned about the presence of an officer holding a firearm. According to local sources, the arrest took place on the night of May 13 after a street blockade made with garbage containers. This is not the only report about the presence of police forces during the recent protests, which lasted at least five consecutive days.
While the regime prioritizes social control, the population’s vulnerability is becoming more visible. Since May 15, Cuba has begun applying variable prices for gasoline and diesel sold in US dollars, with increases that in some cases doubled previous rates. On the first day the measure was implemented, most gas stations in Havana remained closed or without anything to sell, according to a report by 14ymedio. Some private citizens told foreign media that the energy crisis could directly impact service rates.
Beginning in June, Cuba will also implement another reduction in national transportation. The minister of the sector, Eduardo Rodriguez Davila, reported that interprovincial routes will have fewer travel frequencies. The official specified that Omnibus Nacionales will operate only three times a week from Havana to provincial capitals. As for the railway system, connections to Santiago de Cuba, Holguin, Guantanamo, and Bayamo-Manzanillo will be limited to biweekly departures. The ferry between Batabano and Nueva Gerona, Isla de la Juventud, will also reduce service and will have only one weekly trip starting at the end of June.
In the midst of the energy crisis, Cuban authorities once again presented electric mobility as a viable alternative. The strategy celebrated by government propaganda coincides with president Miguel Diaz-Canel’s visit to the Vehiculos Electricos del Caribe company, where motorcycles and tricycles are assembled with Chinese capital.
But beyond the government’s enthusiasm, the reality is that the prices of these vehicles remain beyond the reach of most Cubans. On top of that, buyers must find their own solutions to use them efficiently. For example, a young entrepreneur created a homemade factory to install solar panels on the roofs of tricycles. His story reminds us that, on the island of blackouts, innovation is not an option: it is survival.
Cubans entered another week with deepening discontent, showing their frustration by burning garbage, banging pots, or shouting their anger in the streets. Five years after the launch of the so-called “Ordering Task” reforms the island remains trapped between failed corrections, shortages, and a crisis that has already gone beyond the economic sphere, in an uncertain scenario.
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