Cooperatives in the province of Artemisa have become pioneers in directly importing fuel following the authorization included in the package of 176 Economic and Social Transformations. However, the price in foreign currency excludes many of the producers who need it the most.
Juan Carlos Alcolea Torres, president of the National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP) in the province, confirmed that the Credit and Service Cooperatives (CCS) Frank País, from Güira de Melena, and José Antonio Echeverría, from Alquízar, are now importing oil directly.
A farmer from the CCS Vicente Pérez Noa, in San Antonio de los Baños, is also doing so, and five other productive forms are preparing to join in, highlighted the official newspaper el artemiseño on Saturday.
The Frank País CCS, led by Pablo Orlando Pérez Guzmán, imported a total of more than 150,000 liters of oil, distributed among several cooperatives in the area.
Fuel was initially priced at $2.50 per liter and is now $2.40, well below the price in the informal market but significantly above the previous subsidized price of 13.99 pesos in local currency, the source emphasized.
"In total, the amount exceeded 150,000 liters. But more than half of the farmers in our CCS cannot buy that oil, not even because, unlike the price per liter here (at seven dollars), we initially paid 2.50 and today pay 2.40," Pérez admitted.
The cooperative leader also described the leap that it represents for producers to move from the historically subsidized price to the new pricing scheme in foreign currency.
"It is very expensive to produce under this model, and it is very difficult to transition from the subsidized price of 13.99 pesos in national currency to two dollars and whatever the current equivalent is," he noted.
According to the source, the cooperative has tried to alleviate the situation by assuming the supply of between 20 and 50 liters for certain producers who cannot afford the fuel, although it acknowledges that this is not sufficient for everyone. Nevertheless, more than 50% of its land is either planted or being prepared.
The bureaucratic process has not been easy either. "We are among the few who import directly, not through mipymes. That said, it has required a lot of work: first, there were 18 days spent on contracts, permits, certifications from the firefighters, from Citma, and from Cupet. And it takes over 15 days for goods to arrive from Mariel to us," Pérez detailed.
The producer Julián Leal Muñoz warned that the operation will barely cover costs, with no real profit margin, but that there is no alternative.
"It will be very difficult to cultivate all the areas, but we cannot settle for leaving lands empty. We must produce on every farm and then aim to sell in foreign currency to acquire oil and continue increasing production," Leal explained.
This scenario is set against the backdrop of the most severe energy crisis Cuba has faced in decades. Following the capture of former president Nicolás Maduro on January 3, Venezuela halted its oil shipments to the island, while Mexico also limited its cooperation amidst sanctions imposed on the Caribbean nation by the Trump administration.
In May, the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, publicly admitted that Cuba had "absolutely no fuel, no diesel, only associated gas."
The opening of the private and cooperative sector for importing fuel, following the partial dismantling of the state monopoly on this activity, has generated a significant flow of foreign currency.
Between January and June, Cuba purchased nearly 96 million dollars in fuel from the United States, although this flow exclusively benefits the non-state sector and does not resolve the collapse of the electrical system.
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