The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency indicated this Wednesday, February 11, that two of its airlines will arrive in Cuba to take tourists out of the Eurasian country. Subsequently, Moscow will temporarily cease flights to the Latin American nation. The announcement comes at a time when the energy crisis is worsening, which also generates a shortage of fuel for aircraft on the island.

First modification: 02/11/2026 - 15:49 Last modification: 02/12/2026 - 15:27

The United States oil blockade of Cuba continues to suffocate the island.

Two airlines from Moscow, an ally of Havana, have scheduled flights to rescue Russian tourists who are trapped in the middle of the interruption to much of air transport due to fuel shortages.

The companies in charge of these flights are Rossiya, part of the Aeroflot group, and Severny Veter, indicated the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency, Rosaviatsia.

After completing these rescue trips, Moscow will suspend its air operations to and from Cuban territory at least until the shortage of fuel for aircraft decreases, the Russian aviation regulator stressed.

The effects on flights, which directly hit tourism, the Caribbean nation's main source of income, have also led the Spanish airlines Iberia and Air Europa to take other measures such as adding additional stops to supply their planes with fuel.

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On Tuesday, Air Canada, based in Montreal, announced that in the coming days it will send empty flights to pick up and repatriate some 3,000 customers in Cuba, after which it will also suspend air routes with the Latin American country for at least a month, until March 11, according to a notice to pilots published last Sunday night.

In addition, the Venezuelan airline Conviasa announced on Tuesday, February 10, that it will reschedule its scheduled flights to and from Cuba until February 19, outlining the same reasons.

Although Cuba was already experiencing a deep energy crisis, the island appears to be on the verge of collapse after the president of the United States blocked oil supplies to the island from Venezuela, until then its greatest ally and supplier, following the capture of Nicolás Maduro on January 3.

Washington's measure includes the threat of tariffs for any country that tries to fill the gap in crude oil and fuel, which caused Mexico to withdraw the aid it was providing to the island after the capture of the Chavista leader.

Read alsoRecord blackout for this Tuesday and suspension of flights: US oil blockade worsens crisis in Cuba

Guatemala announces the end of the Cuban doctors program

The Government of President Bernardo Arevalo announced that it will end this year its participation in a program that has brought hundreds of Cuban doctors to practice their profession in the Central American country.

Currently, 412 health professionals, including 333 doctors, work in Guatemala as part of the program, the Guatemalan Ministry of Health reported in a statement.

The ministry stated that the decision was based on a "technical analysis" to strengthen the national health system and guarantee the "continuity of services."

But the announcement comes just as the Trump Administration is pressuring all countries to break relations with the Cuban government and has questioned Mexico over its own program to bring Cuban doctors to the country. It also comes after Guatemala signed a trade agreement with the United States, its main trading partner, last month.

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Against this backdrop, the Bahamas announced last June that it was preparing to cancel contracts with Cuban health professionals after conversations with the US government.

The White House leader has also expanded a visa restriction policy targeting Cuban officials believed to be linked to a labor program that sends Cuban workers abroad.

Read also “Everyone knows what is coming now”: Cubans prepare for a feared fall into the void

With the imposition of a Nicaraguan visa, the fence is closed for Cubans to emigrate

In the midst of the greatest difficulties for survival, the decision of neighboring Nicaragua now leaves Cubans with fewer possibilities of leaving the impoverished country, governed by the same regime for more than 60 years.

Compared to citizens of most countries, Cubans face greater restrictions on emigrating, in their attempt to flee the acute economic crisis and lack of freedoms. Until now, many of them had taken long routes to flee to the United States and other nations after leaving Cuba by air to Nicaragua, a country that did not require a visa to enter as tourists, but that is beginning to change.

This week the Nicaraguan Government ended visa-free entry for citizens of the island since last Sunday, February 8, which leaves them with fewer possibilities of emigrating.

People familiar with the measure, cited by the Reuters news agency, indicated that the Government of President Daniel Ortega seems to be responding to pressure from Washington.

The United States, under both the Trump and Joe Biden governments, has accused Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo of allowing Cubans and other citizens to freely transit through Nicaragua and of contributing to irregular immigration into US territory.

The Trump Administration's pressure on Managua has intensified in recent weeks following the capture by US special forces of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, for years a close ally of Ortega.

With coal and solar panels, Cubans try to alleviate the energy crisis

Faced with the risk of a worsening of the energy crisis, the inhabitants of Havana are trying to protect themselves: coal reserves for some, electric motorcycles for others or solar panels for those who can afford it.

On the side of a peripheral highway southeast of Havana, some vendors sell charcoal directly on the asphalt and handmade braziers, some made from old washing machine drums and others more sophisticated.

"Everyone knows what is coming now. We don't have fuel in the country, we have to take alternatives," Niurbis Lamothe, a 53-year-old state employee, told the AFP news agency after purchasing an artisanal charcoal stove.

"The shoe was tightened more than it was," says a buyer who prefers not to give her name, looking at a bag of charcoal worth 2,600 pesos ($5.25), that is, about 50% of the average Cuban salary.

This mother of a little girl explained that her salary is not enough to buy a power plant or a small lithium battery to overcome the 10 or 12 hours of power outages that she experiences daily.

"This is the most pocket-friendly way" to be able to cook, he explains while loading a sack of charcoal on his electric motorcycle.

The economic situation in Cuba has seriously deteriorated in recent years, with all kinds of shortages and with electricity outages and fuel shortages that are getting worse.

Now, the energy strangulation imposed by the United States, which has already maintained an embargo on the communist island for more than 60 years, makes us fear the worst. Added to this is that the Cuban economy is unable to recover and in 2025 it contracted around 5%, according to a recent report from the Center for the Study of the Cuban Economy.

Read alsoThe crisis in Cuba worsens: Russia accuses the US of "suffocating" the island; Mexico announces more humanitarian aid

With Reuters, AFP and EFE

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