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The Ministry of Transport announced this Friday a new package of severe cuts due to fuel shortages, which includes a drastic reduction in the frequency of national buses, trains, and maritime service to the Isle of Youth, prompting a wave of public outrage on social media.
In Matanzas, there is practically no public transportation. The citizen Iraida Din described it plainly on social media. "To get to the hospitals, you have to pay more than 1,000 pesos, but traveling within the capital municipality is an odyssey because it all relies on private individuals who may or may not be registered with the ONAT," she explained.
In Holguín, the situation is no better. "Minister, please provide something for the municipalities even if it's just once a day. Here in Holguín, the prices are unbearable," wrote Reina Cuba in a post on the official Facebook page of the channel Cubavisión Internacional that announced the changes.
The most notable complaint among the comments highlights the regime's double standard. "There is no fuel for public transportation, but there is for the hired vehicles, just like there is for the cars of the leaders," pointed out Maria Perez Castellano.
Other citizens turned to irony to express their desperation. "They should provide courier services like in the 19th century," wrote Napoles Maria, while María Elena González asked if "they're going to set up hot air balloons."
Liliet Gómez Fernández raised a question that many parents are asking. "How long will in-person classes continue in Havana, when it’s impossible to get around and tricycles are charging whatever they want?" she stated.
The prevailing sentiment was summed up by Norma Sierra in four words: "Many strategies and few results."
Norma Garcia was more direct in demanding empathy. "A little empathy for the everyday Cuban, who is tired of resisting for that reason," she concluded.
According to the Minister of Transportation, Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, starting June 18, the departures of Ómnibus Nacionales between Havana and the provincial capitals will be limited to three times a week, while routes to Manzanillo and Baracoa will be reduced to a single departure per week.
The Nueva Gerona–Batabanó ferry, which connects the Isle of Youth with the mainland, will reduce its service from two weekly departures to just one on Saturdays starting June 20.
The measures arrive on the same day that the state corporation Cimex nearly doubled the price of gasoline, setting the special B100 at 2.60 dollars per liter, while in the informal market, the liter was quoted between 4,000 and 6,000 Cuban pesos.
The collapse has its roots in an unprecedented energy crisis. On May 14, the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, admitted that Cuba has "absolutely nothing" in terms of diesel or fuel oil to sustain the national electric system.
In December 2025, out of a fleet of 558 interprovincial buses, only 219 were operational, and the situation has only worsened since then.
Cuba needs eight fuel ships per month but has only received one in several recent months, according to its own minister De la O Levy, which suggests that the transportation crisis will continue to worsen in the coming weeks.
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