Cuba is at an impasse due to a severe shortage of fuel in a crisis that does not seem to have an immediate solution. Filling lines at several Havana gas stations are long, and in some provinces petrol and diesel are rationed. At the same time, priority is given to refueling vehicles intended for public use, such as ambulances, taxis and hearses.

In the midst of this situation, the government announced the suspension of the massive May Day parade on Revolution Square. Instead, small marches will take place in municipalities and communities. For the first time since the Castro revolution, this celebration was canceled for financial reasons, as it was suspended in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The director of a major Cuban orchestra just explained yesterday that he had to cancel three rehearsals in the past month because he couldn’t require his musicians to use what little gasoline they had to get there or spend a fortune on taxis.

The Labor Day Parade is not just an event in Cuba. Since 1959, the authorities have organized a major mass event in Revolution Square, mobilizing tens of thousands of people, providing participants with hundreds of buses and allocating millions of resources.

A few days ago, when a new parliament was assembled and President Miguel Diaz-Canel was re-elected for a second term on April 19 last year, the government decided to hold a parade despite problems with fuel supplies. But at the last moment, the authorities reconsidered this position and opted for “rationalization of resources.”

Source: El Pais