Jet Fuel VANISHES—Mass Tourist Evacuation Begins

When a superpower decides to turn off another nation’s fuel tap, thousands of vacationers suddenly become pawns in a high-stakes geopolitical chess match played out on sun-soaked Caribbean runways.

Story Snapshot

Russian airlines Rossiya and Nordwind are evacuating 4,000 stranded tourists from Cuba via one-way flights before suspending all service by February 24 due to complete jet fuel depletion at nine major airports.
Trump’s January 29 executive order imposed crushing tariffs on any nation supplying oil to Cuba, severing the island’s lifeline from Venezuela and Mexico and triggering a nationwide fuel crisis.
The FAA issued an unprecedented notice confirming zero Jet A-1 fuel availability through March 11 at airports including Havana, Varadero, and Santiago de Cuba, grounding international tourism.
Cuba’s tourism-dependent economy faces collapse as Canadian carriers also evacuate thousands, hospitals prioritize emergency cases, and the Kremlin pledges humanitarian oil shipments despite U.S. interdiction threats.

Trump Weaponizes Cuba’s Oil Dependency

President Trump’s executive order declaring a national emergency over Cuba came with surgical precision. The January 29 directive threatened punitive tariffs against any country daring to supply oil to the island nation, framing Cuba as a direct security threat to America. Venezuela, which provided roughly 80 percent of Cuba’s oil, had already ceased exports following the shocking January 3 U.S. capture of President Nicolás Maduro. Mexico, facing tariff pressure, quickly followed suit. Within weeks, no oil tankers arrived at Cuban ports. The strategy exploited decades of Cuban dependency on foreign petroleum, transforming an economic vulnerability into a pressure point that would cripple everything from hospitals to hotels.

Russian Tourists Become Collateral Damage

The first signs of crisis emerged during the February 8-9 weekend when Cuban aviation authorities warned airlines that jet fuel would be unavailable for at least one month. By February 10, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a Notice to Airmen confirming the nightmare: nine major airports including Havana, Varadero, Holguín, Camagüey, Cayo Coco, Cienfuegos, Santa Clara, Santiago de Cuba, and Manzanillo had zero Jet A-1 fuel through March 11. Russian carriers Rossiya and Nordwind, both operating regular routes to Cuba’s resort destinations, faced impossible logistics. Approximately 4,000 Russian vacationers found themselves stranded in Caribbean paradise with no clear path home.

Evacuation Flights Replace Tourist Routes

Russia’s aviation authority Rosaviatsia coordinated an emergency response that transformed tourism flights into one-way evacuation operations. Starting February 12, Rossiya Airlines scheduled at least six flights from Havana and Varadero directly to Moscow, carrying passengers but returning empty or not at all. Nordwind organized similar repatriation missions from Holguín and Cayo Coco. The Russian Union of Travel Industry confirmed the scale of the operation, with airlines offering refunds to ticket holders as they prepared for complete suspension by February 24. Canada faced parallel chaos, with Air Canada, WestJet, and Air Transat dispatching empty aircraft to retrieve roughly 3,000 stranded passengers, refueling at nearby Caribbean airports before the rescue runs.

Cuba’s Broader Infrastructure Collapses

The aviation fuel shortage represents just one symptom of Cuba’s total energy meltdown. Without incoming oil shipments, the island nation implemented severe rationing measures affecting daily life for 11 million citizens. Banks reduced operating hours, factories shuttered production lines, and cultural events like the annual Havana International Book Fair faced postponement. Hospitals prioritized emergency cases only, turning away routine procedures. Power blackouts, already frequent throughout 2024 and 2025 due to declining Venezuelan supply, intensified to rolling outages lasting hours. The tourism sector, which generates essential foreign currency for the cash-starved government, ground to a halt just as winter high season peaked.

Russia Tests Alliance Limits With Cuba

The Kremlin responded with rhetorical fury and logistical promises. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused the United States of “suffocating” Cuba, while Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pledged financial and humanitarian assistance. Russia announced plans to dispatch the shadow fleet tanker Seahorse carrying humanitarian oil supplies, despite risks of U.S. naval interdiction. The USS Stockdale reportedly intercepted and redirected the vessel, though outcomes remain uncertain. This crisis tests Russia-Cuba ties forged during the Soviet era and renewed after Western sanctions over Ukraine. Russia previously forgave 32 billion dollars in Cuban debt in 2014 and allegedly recruited some 20,000 Cuban fighters for Ukraine operations, underscoring the relationship’s strategic value beyond tourism flights.

Economic Warfare Achieves Intended Pressure

Trump’s approach demonstrates how targeted sanctions can exploit systemic vulnerabilities without military action. By threatening secondary sanctions against oil suppliers rather than bombing refineries, the administration forced allies Mexico and Venezuela to abandon Cuba, avoiding direct U.S.-Cuba confrontation. The tactic mirrors Cold War-era embargo strategies but with modern financial leverage. Trump himself hinted at eventual negotiations, stating “We’re going to make a deal with Cuba,” suggesting the fuel cutoff serves as opening leverage rather than permanent policy. Whether this pressure produces regime change, policy concessions, or simply humanitarian catastrophe remains the central question as March approaches with no tankers on the horizon.