Cuba has declared it has run out of fuel entirely, with its energy minister confirming the island holds no diesel, no fuel oil and no reserves whatsoever, as prolonged blackouts of up to 22 hours triggered the largest street protests in Havana since the crisis began and thrust a dormant US humanitarian aid offer back to the centre of a rapidly deteriorating situation.

"We have absolutely no fuel oil, and absolutely no diesel. We have no reserves," energy minister Vicente de la O Levy told state media on May 14, as the United Nations warned that conditions on the island had "deteriorated" in recent days and that no fuel imports were imminent. "Our UN team in Cuba continues to support national authorities and communities as the country faces a deepening energy crisis marked by acute fuel shortages, prolonged blackouts and severe disruptions to essential services," UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters, adding that the island's fuel reserves had been largely exhausted.

The human cost is now impossible to ignore. Data gathered by AFP showed that 65% of Cuban territory experienced simultaneous blackouts on May 13 alone. Hundreds of residents poured onto the streets across several Havana neighbourhoods that night, blocking roads with burning rubbish and chanting "Turn on the lights!," in the largest single night of demonstrations in the capital since Washington imposed its de facto oil embargo in January. One resident in the Playa district told BBC News his neighbourhood had gone more than 40 hours without electricity before he joined the protests.

The crisis has its roots in the fuel blockade imposed by US President Donald Trump in January, following the US-led military operation that removed Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro from power and severed Cuba's dominant source of subsidised oil. An executive order threatening tariffs on any country supplying fuel to the communist-run island successfully deterred Mexico and Venezuela — once its principal suppliers — from maintaining shipments.

Only a single Russian tanker, the Anatoly Kolodkin, has delivered crude oil to Cuba since December, a cargo that analysts estimated would cover little more than a week of the island's diesel needs when it arrived at the port of Matanzas in late March. Cuba's eight ageing thermoelectric plants, some in operation for more than four decades, have proved unable to sustain the grid under such conditions; the island has endured seven nationwide blackouts since 2024, with the national grid entering what the energy minister described as a "critical" state.

The street protests have injected fresh urgency into a US humanitarian aid offer of $100mn that had languished without response. The State Department renewed the proposal this week, conditioning distribution on the Catholic Church and independent organisations, and explicitly bypassing the Cuban government. Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said Havana was "ready to hear the details of the proposal and how it would be implemented," while arguing that the most effective action Washington could take would be to lift the blockade entirely. President Miguel Díaz-Canel framed the crisis in starker terms, blaming what he called a "genocidal energy blockade."

The UN declared Trump's embargo unlawful last week, lending international legal weight to Havana's position even as the practical effect of that ruling remains limited. Through its action plan responding to both hurricane Melissa and the energy shock, the UN has mobilised more than $32mn to support affected communities on the island. The European Commission has separately released €6mn ($6.5mn) in humanitarian assistance since the start of the year.

The timing could hardly be more charged. High-level talks between US and Cuban officials — the first time American diplomats had set foot on the island since 2016 — took place in Havana on April 10, with Washington presenting a series of demands including the release of political prisoners, an end to political repression and far-reaching economic liberalisation. Cuba confirmed the meetings but rejected the US account of the conditions discussed. Meanwhile, the Pentagon is reportedly stepping up contingency planning for potential military operations in Cuba once the situation in the Middle East stabilises. Trump has repeatedly warned that Cuba is "next" on Washington's list of targets after the Iran campaign.

For an island of 10mn people that has now gone without meaningful fuel imports for the better part of five months, the gap between diplomatic process and physical reality is closing fast. The protests suggest that gap may be closing faster than either government had anticipated.