Energy Independence

Cuba’s Fuel Crisis Exposes the Real Cost of Softening on Communist Regimes

By National Security Desk | February 17, 2026

As Cubans face months-long waits for gasoline through a government-controlled app, the crisis highlights the consequences of decades of failed US foreign policy and globalist indifference — raising urgent questions about America’s own energy security and border challenges.

In Havana, Cuban drivers are confronting an agonizing new reality: waiting weeks, even months, to refuel their vehicles. The root cause? A crippling fuel shortage exacerbated by a mix of U.S. sanctions targeting Cuba’s oil imports and a government-imposed digital rationing system that does little more than deepen hardship. With gasoline prices soaring to $1.30 per liter—five times what many state workers earn monthly in U.S. dollar equivalent—ordinary Cubans find themselves trapped in an economic squeeze that echoes far beyond their island shores. The government’s newly mandated “Ticket” app, designed to prevent long lines at gas stations, ironically locks drivers...

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