The Cuban government has refused a request by the U.S. Embassy in Havana to allow it to import diesel for its generators while the Trump administration continues to impose a fuel blockade on the island, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the matter.
Cuba is still using cars from the 1950s because of the American trade embargo. Under ideal conditions a transition to pure electric / solar energy would take a decade. With an American embargo in place it would take decades and probably never finish.
Isn’t Cuba walkable for the most part? I’ve heard the whole 50’s car factoid as a kid, but this really kind of feels like big oil/general motors propaganda. “Look at Cuba they are forced to use cars from our golden years”
I don’t think there’s anything stopping them from importing electric vehicles from China. Buy if you’re walking most places why bother? The main concern would be freight. I am not well versed on Cuba’s freight capabilities.
But if you’re already cut off from oil, then there isn’t really a reason to cry over something you can’t have. The Cubans know this. So I wouldn’t really say they’re decades away from electrification. It’ll happen however fast Chinese investors or even the CCP themselves want it to happen.
I haven’t been there, but the videos I’ve seen show that they have a very car-centric culture.
The relatives I’ve had visit have confirmed the classic cars. It isn’t propaganda. It’s that they have a lot of cars from the time just before the US sanctions went into effect. A lot of those cars now have weird engines out of trucks, but because they can’t get new car frames in easily, they’re keeping them for as long as they can.
Nothing, except for the money to pay for them.
It seems like you’re living in a dream world where Cuba has a strong economy and great relations with China.