A Cuban identified as Gustavo Córdova reported on Instagram that thieves stole gasoline from his car in Cuba after puncturing the vehicle's tank with a sharp object, amid the desperation for fuel on the island.
"They stole the gasoline from my car in Cuba. Where else? This was my wake-up call this morning. My car almost empty, leaking gasoline," Córdova recounted in a video, where he shows the hole opened in the tank and the puddle of fuel spilled on the ground.
According to the affected individual, the thieves first attempted to dismantle the tank's hose, but when they were unable to do so, they chose to drill directly into the reservoir.
"They broke the hose; it seems they couldn't dismantle it, and they ended up making a hole in the tank, which is also clearly visible, obviously made with a screwdriver or some sharp object," he described.
The result was a double loss: the fuel that the thieves could not remove spilled onto the ground, leaving the vehicle practically empty. Córdova warned other Cubans to take extra precautions.
"Be careful where you park, where you leave your car or your motorcycles, because these little thieves no longer know what they are going to steal; anything you leave with them, they will take," she warned.
The man summed up the magnitude of the crisis in one phrase: "With the fuel situation right now, they're stealing gold. Be very careful, be very careful, because this is extremely, extremely, extremely bad."
Cuba is experiencing its worst fuel crisis in decades: between January and October 2025, oil imports fell by 35% compared to the same period in 2024, decreasing from 69,400 to 45,400 barrels per day. Venezuela, the island's main supplier, also reduced its shipments by 15% during that period.
That scarcity has driven the price of fuel in the black market up to between 4,000 and 5,000 Cuban pesos per liter in March 2026, a figure that exceeds the average monthly salary of around 3,000 pesos.
A Cuban ended up paying 50,000 pesos —almost 100 dollars at the informal exchange rate— for just 10 liters of gasoline.
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