Cubans queue for water in Havana amid fuel and power crisis

HAVANA, March 20 (Reuters) – Residents across the Cuban capital hauled buckets and lined up for water from tanker trucks as a combination of fuel shortages and power grid instability left thousands of taps dry.

State water utility Aguas de La Habana confirmed that pumping schedules and supply operations have been disrupted by a lack of electricity. 

“This area is now having water problems. People are hauling water and waiting for the water truck,” said resident Lazaro Noblet, while pushing a small handcart loaded with containers.

“Since oil is not coming into the country, there is no pumping, because that system runs on electricity.”

The energy crunch follows a spike in U.S. pressure on Havana since the January capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Cuba’s primary benefactor. 

U.S. President Donald Trump has since cut Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba and threatened tariffs on other suppliers, strangling the island’s fragile power infrastructure.

For many, however, the struggle is not new. “Our problem has existed since 2021, and now it is 2026,” said 58-year-old Maria de Jesus Rusindo, who has spent years carrying heavy containers into her home.

In other districts, Alfonso Pedro Gonzalez checked an empty roof tank before turning a dry faucet. He must boil the small amount of water he manages to collect from trucks.

(Reporting by Alien Fernandez and Anett Rios, Writing by Natalia Siniawski, Editing by Rod Nickel)