A video published this week on Facebook and TikTok by the user YaniVlogs showcases a scene that starkly reflects the depth of the Cuban crisis: a sky blue "almendrón" from the 1950s being pulled by two oxen through the streets of Las Martinas, a locality in the Sandino municipality at the western tip of Pinar del Río.
In the images, a man dressed in red is seen sitting behind the wheel of a classic car, guiding two animals with a long stick as they move down the village street.
The video, accompanied by the song "Guajiro Natural" by Polo Montañez—singer-songwriter born in Candelaria, Pinar del Río, and passed away in 2002—gathered over 64,000 views, 828 likes, and 86 comments on Facebook.
The commentators identified the location, the vehicle, and its occupants by name, confirming that the scene is real and took place in a small community where everyone knows each other.
The reactions mix humor, irony, and sorrow. "There's no gasoline, but we won't stop. Taxi," wrote one user. "We have to laugh or we’ll just cry," expressed another. "No words, so much sadness," lamented a third. One person cleverly named the vehicle: "Chevrolet of the fifty-cow."
The scene is not an isolated incident. On April 16, the ruling leader Miguel Díaz-Canel publicly acknowledged that Cuba "absolutely lacks fuel for nearly everything".
In the unofficial market, gasoline was priced between 4,000 and 6,000 Cuban pesos per liter—up to 11 dollars—while the new rate increase in foreign currency on May 15 set the price of special gasoline at 2.60 dollars per liter at state gas stations.
Animal traction has reemerged across the island as an emergency solution. In February, Santiago de Cuba inaugurated an animal-drawn hearse to transport coffins. In March, milk producers in Camagüey used oxen and bicycles to take the product to collection centers. In May, Nuevitas resumed using animal-drawn carts to collect waste, and Guantánamo was preparing to distribute water using draft animals.
Cases have even been reported of Cubans who pour sunflower oil into the tanks of classic cars, tractors, and buses as an improvised substitute for fuel.
The United Nations warned that the on health, water, food, telecommunications, and transportation, and that the island has been without sufficient fuel for over three months.
"What we are seeing in Cuba and what we are experiencing, that only happens here in this country," summarized one commentator. Another was more somber: "That's nothing compared to what awaits us."
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