Cuban drivers face waiting several months wait for gasoline in government app designed to reduce lines

Cuban drivers look waits of respective months to refuel their vehicles, arsenic intensifying substance shortages, exacerbated by a US lipid embargo, grip nan island.

To forestall chaos astatine petrol stations, Cuba’s authorities past week mandated an app, 'Ticket', for booking refuelling appointments.

However, drivers successful Havana told The Associated Press connected Monday that nan app is only providing slots weeks aliases months from now.

“I person (appointment) number 7 1000 and something,” said Jorge Reyes, a 65-year-old who downloaded nan app connected Monday.

Reyes signed up to refuel astatine a state position successful Havana that is only awarding 50 appointments per day. “When will I beryllium capable to bargain state again?” he said.

The app only allows drivers to motion up for appointments astatine 1 state position astatine a time. So, connected WhatsApp groups immoderate drivers are sharing accusation connected which places mightiness beryllium little crowded aliases which state stations person a greater capacity to service customers, noting that immoderate locations are awarding up to 90 appointments per day.

But that is of small comfortableness to those who person downloaded nan app, only to find retired location are up to 10,000 appointments up of theirs.

The Cuban authorities has besides stopped trading gasoline successful section rate astatine subsidized rates of astir 25 cents per liter, and is now only trading much costly fuel, priced successful U.S. dollars.

A liter of gasoline presently sells for $1.30 astatine state stations and tin costs up to six dollars successful nan increasing achromatic marketplace for gasoline. Government workers successful Cuba are gain little than $20 a month, erstwhile their net successful Cuban pesos are converted to U.S. dollars utilizing marketplace rates.

When drivers tin yet refuel astatine work stations, they are only allowed to bargain 20 liters of gasoline, aliases astir 5.2 gallons.

“This will not past maine long,” said Ariel Alonso, a businessman who refueled Monday astatine nan El Riviera state station.

“I person to time off a reserve of 5 liters successful lawsuit anyone gets sick astatine home,” and has to beryllium taken to nan hospital, he said.

The Ticket app is tally by XETID, a authorities owned package firm. Last week, nan company’s commercialized head Saumel Tejada, told news tract Cuba Debate that much than 90,000 drivers had sought refueling appointments utilizing nan app.

Ticket has been astir for 3 years, and was antecedently utilized by Cubans to unafraid appointments astatine notaries and astatine state stations wherever they could salary for substance successful section currency. But now it is almost nan only measurement for drivers to get their cars refueled — without going to nan achromatic market.

Vehicles utilized for nan island’s tourism manufacture are nan exception. Those cars person typical licence plates and are allowed to refuel astatine 44 work stations astir nan island, wherever agelong lines person formed. As pinch regular vehicles, tourism cars tin only acquisition 20 liters of fuel.

Fuels shortages and blackouts person been intensifying successful Cuba this month, arsenic nan federation struggles to import lipid for its powerfulness plants and refineries.

In precocious January, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened immoderate federation that sold lipid to Cuba pinch tariffs, arsenic Washington steps up efforts to unit nan island’s communist authorities to make economical and governmental reforms.

Cuba’s president Miguel Díaz-Canel has said that he is consenting to discuss pinch nan U.S. “as equals” and without relinquishing his nations sovereignty. Díaz-Canel has accused nan U.S. of staging an “energy blockade.”

Venezuela, 1 of Cuba’s main lipid suppliers, stopped trading crude to nan land successful January aft nan U.S. captured past president Nicolás Maduro successful a pre-dawn ambush and flew him to New York to look supplier trafficking charges.

Mexico besides trim disconnected lipid shipments to Cuba successful January, aft Trump issued nan tariff threat.

Banks connected nan land person reduced their moving hours successful a bid to prevention energy and earlier this period nan Cuban authorities said that it will not supply substance to planes that onshore connected nan island, prompting 3 Canadian airlines to cancel flights to Cuba. Other airlines will proceed to alert to nan land but will make refueling stops successful nan Dominican Republic.

A book adjacent and an yearly cigar waste and acquisition adjacent person besides been postponed arsenic officials look for ways to trim substance and energy consumption.

Last week a group of United Nations quality authorities experts condemned nan U.S lipid siege, saying that it has “no ground connected corporate information and constitutes a unilateral enactment that is incompatible pinch world law.”