A video posted on Facebook shows several men, including the driver of a bus, pouring sunflower oil into the fuel tank of the bus as an improvised solution to the acute shortage of diesel that is halting transportation in Cuba.
In the 22-second clip, one of the protagonists jokes sarcastically, "Premium fuel. Look at all these boxes. Let Trump come; there's gas here!"
The scene, filmed with humor, depicts the Cuban solution to an unprecedented energy crisis.
The video is not an isolated case. On April 9, a truck on the Camagüey-Havana route used 30 containers of cooking oil mixed with petroleum to complete the journey due to the inability to obtain diesel.
On May 7, another video showed Cubans pouring sunflower oil into a tractor to make it work.
The practice has become widespread because sunflower oil, which in the informal market is around 1,500 Cuban pesos per liter, is more accessible than diesel, which is priced at over 3,000 pesos per liter in the black market.
However, technically, vegetable oil is not a suitable substitute for diesel. Its high viscosity results in poor fuel atomization, incomplete combustion, buildup of carbon deposits in the injectors, and accelerated wear on the engine, which in the long term further exacerbates the deterioration of the already precarious Cuban vehicle fleet.
The comments on the video reflect the situation with irony. "Later they'll sell the flaws and the problems with that sticky cooking oil," wrote a user.
Another warned, "If that compressed oil can function like diesel, what will it do to our bodies?" A third one stated, "And then they'll be cooking with mare's urine."
Several users are warning on social media that the practice of mixing oil and fuel could lead to another associated problem. "Cooking oil prices will rise and frying even a banana will become impossible in that country."
The fuel shortage in Cuba reached a critical point in 2026. President Miguel Díaz-Canel acknowledged on February 6 that the country had not received fuel since December 2025.
In May, the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, admitted that Cuba had "absolutely nothing" in fuel oil or diesel for electricity generation.
Cuba only produces about 40% of its fuel needs and critically depends on imports that have plummeted: between January and October 2025, it imported about 45,400 barrels daily, compared to 69,400 in the same period of 2024, a decline of 35%.
The impact on public transportation has been devastating. A commentator summarized the paradox with an ironic warning: "Soon oil will cost 10,000 pesos, just wait until it's in short supply."
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