In the face of the U.S. military deployment in the Caribbean, five tankers from Russia’s shadow fleet turn around
Madrid, December 16, 2025 –The commission of a minor crime has cost two workers at the Matanzas Fuel Trading Company a public humiliation that includes the dissemination of their faces and full names as if they were two dangerous criminals. That is just the appetizer, because the harsher punishment is still to come if, at the trial awaiting them, they are charged with sabotage—one of the most serious crimes in the penal code—carrying sentences of between four and ten years in prison.
The news was spread this Monday by the pro-government account Con todos la victoria [With all of us the victory], dedicated to showcasing small police “successes” in the province of Matanzas, which labeled the incident a “totally shameful act.” In the post—accompanied by photographs of the alleged thieves—it is reported that authorities surprised the shift supervisor and a security guard from the company “with their hands in the gasoline.”
The workers had siphoned from one of the tanks “25 liters of gasoline carefully packed in nylon bags, a product in high demand and in short supply among the population these days,” when “their mission was precisely to protect those resources destined for the economy and the well-being of the population.” For this reason, they say, “they earned themselves a judicial process.”
They were luckier than a driver for the state company Transcupet, who was caught “milking” fuel on the national highway near Jagüey Grande.
They were luckier than a driver for the state company Transcupet, who was caught “milking” fuel on the national highway near Jagüey Grande. In his case, although his first and last names were also released, there was no photo showing his face—despite the fact that he was extracting 100 liters of diesel from the tank. The account once again seeks to teach a lesson: “The move, which seemed clever, ended in a setback, a lesson that makes it clear that, no matter what tricks are invented, what belongs to others remains off-limits.”
It cannot be denied, judging by the comments on both posts, that there are voices calling for a heavy hand against those who “steal from everyone,” but the staunch defense of the three individuals is the general tone. “In Cuba people live off theft in all the companies, because the salary is not worthy of any human being,” one comment said. References to unlivable wages are repeated ad nauseam, and there is no shortage of those who consider corruption inherent in everyday life in Cuba. “In Cuba everything is illegal; from the moment you get out of bed you’re thinking about how to survive.”
Fuel theft has battered the island for many years, and the authorities do not know how to put a stop to it: neither exemplary trials nor increasingly harsh sentences have managed to reduce the number of such thefts. A few months ago, on a program by Humberto López on Cuban Television devoted to this crime, it was stated that in the country there were perfectly oiled systems— involving operators, brigade chiefs, executives, and guards—through which “as much as 20,000 or 30,000 liters of fuel” were lost every day.
Under current conditions, when the Electric Union reports a daily deficit of about 1,000 megawatts due solely to the lack of distributed generation—most of it because of fuel shortages—pointing the finger at someone who takes 25 liters cannot hide the fact that the Cuban government itself diverts millions of barrels of oil sent by Venezuela to the Chinese market, instead of using them to produce electricity to reduce the 24-hour blackouts.
This Monday the island again experienced a scandalous generation deficit, with 2,007 MW at peak hour. Despite the fact that during the best hour of sun the photovoltaic parks delivered 523 MW, the morning’s generation was only 1,330 MW for a demand of 2,300 MW. Things logically worsened in the late afternoon and evening, when only 1,257 MW were being produced for a demand of 3,089 MW—more than 930 MW of the deficit due to lack of fuel.
The situation could become more complicated given the direction things are taking at the state oil company PDVSA. To the data made public this Monday about buyers demanding discounts—seeing that their purchases could be seized by the United States after what happened with the confiscation of the Skipper—new information is added. According to Reuters, an oil tanker carrying Russian naphtha—used to refine heavy Venezuelan crude—and four large tankers have turned around since that vessel was seized.
The first of these is the Boltaris, flying the flag of Benin, which was carrying some 300,000 barrels of Russian naphtha to Venezuela and turned back over the weekend.
The first of these is the Boltaris, flying the flag of Benin, which was carrying some 300,000 barrels of Russian naphtha to Venezuela and turned back over the weekend. It is now, the agency reports, heading to Europe without having unloaded. The other four vessels, scheduled to load in Venezuelan ports in the coming weeks, have also turned back, leaving many of the country’s exports paralyzed, with the exception of those shipped by Chevron, the U.S. company authorized to operate in Venezuela.
This Monday, the PDVSA stated that it had been the victim of a cyberattack that halted its administrative and operational systems, including oil deliveries.
The sanctions imposed on hydrocarbons during Donald Trump’s first term caused a 99% drop in foreign-currency revenues between 2014 and 2020, and the economy stopped generating $642 billion.
In January of this year, crude production surpassed one million barrels per day (bpd) for the first time since June 2019, with the pumping 1,031,000 bpd. The amount increased to 1,142,000 bpd in November, although in 1998—one year before Chavismo came to power—Venezuela produced 3.1 million bpd, according to a report by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Two years later, Chávez and Castro signed the agreement that ensured Cuba a stable supply, which sustained it for decades, even as production declined, especially since 2017, but now things are taking an even worse turn.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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