A video posted on TikTok shows how Cubans have built a small artisanal refinery to produce fuel from plastic and crude oil, amidst the worst fuel crisis the island has faced in decades.
The clip, posted on May 13 by user @rafaeltorres1194, lasts just 62 seconds and showcases a rudimentary system where plastic is burned in a container, the fumes pass through makeshift pipes, are cooled and condensed, and the resulting liquid — which the creators refer to as "petrogasolina" and "nafta" — is collected as fuel.
"They throw the plastic in here, it gets ignited there and passes through this pipe over here, it evaporates... and this is where the petrogasoline comes in, oil is collected down there, the oil, and then gasoline is extracted from the oil," explains the narrator of the video amid laughter and exclamations of astonishment.
The process technically corresponds to pyrolysis: the thermal decomposition of organic materials —in this case, plastic— to obtain pyrolytic oil or crude naphtha.
However, the homemade product does not equate to commercial gasoline without additional treatment, and the process entails serious risks: high temperatures, accumulation of flammable vapors, and the possibility of fire or explosion.
The backdrop is an unprecedented fuel crisis in Cuba: Miguel Díaz-Canel himself acknowledged in April that the country "absolutely lacks fuel for almost everything."
Cuba went four consecutive months—from December 2025 to April 2026—without receiving imported oil, as acknowledged by the ruler himself.
The Venezuelan supply, historically the backbone of Cuban provision, was interrupted or reduced to zero, and the situation worsened due to Executive Order 14380 signed by Donald Trump on January 29, 2026, which imposes secondary sanctions on those who sell fuel to Cuba.
Russia donated a shipment of 730,000 barrels as temporary relief, but it does not address the structural shortage of a country that needs between 90,000 and 110,000 barrels daily.
The new official price of special gasoline B100, set at 2.60 dollars per liter on May 15 —double its previous value—, amounts to nearly 20% of the average monthly salary in Cuba for each liter.
In the informal market, the situation is even more extreme: three liters of gasoline reached a cost of 16,000 Cuban pesos in June 2026, according to recent reports.
In April, the wait to buy gasoline exceeded 15 hours in some cases, with sales limited to 20 liters per vehicle.
This homemade invention is part of a long tradition of ingenuity forced by crisis: stoves made from almond tree leaves, artisanal ovens using old tanks, rechargeable fans with recycled batteries, and now improvised mini-pyrolysis refineries.
The video is not just a viral curiosity: it is a portrait of a society that, in the complete absence of the State, resorts to dangerous and precarious solutions to survive.
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