Waste piles up in Cuba as US-imposed fuel blockade halts collection trucks

Cubans suffer under a US fuel blockade as President Donald Trump calls the Caribbean country a ‘failed nation’.Published On 17 Feb 2026The United States-imposed fuel crisis in Cuba is also turning into a waste and health crisis, as many collection trucks have been left with empty fuel tanks, causing refuse to pile up on the streets of the capital, Havana, and other cities and towns.Only 44 of Havana’s 106 rubbish trucks have been able to keep operating due to the fuel shortages, slowing rubbish collection, as waste piles up on Havana’s street corners, the Reuters news agency reported on Monday, citing state-run news outlet Cubadebate.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4From blackouts to food shortages: How US blockade is crippling life in Cubalist 2 of 4Russia warns Cuba fuel situation critical; Havana slams ‘cruel’ US tacticslist 3 of 4Mexico’s Sheinbaum laments US’ oil block on Cubalist 4 of 4Beyond pressure: What is the Trump administration’s endgame in Cuba?end of listOther towns are also seeing rubbish pile up, and residents have taken to social media to raise the alarm over the risk to public health, according to Reuters, citing Cuban media.“It’s all over the city,” said Jose Ramon Cruz, a resident of Havana.“It’s been ‌more than 10 days since a garbage truck came,” Cruz told Reuters.The mounting rubbish crisis has added to the suffering on the tiny island-state, which US President Donald Trump described on Monday as a “failed nation”.“Cuba is now a failed nation. They don’t even have jet fuels to get their aeroplanes to take off, they’re plugging up their runway,” Trump said.“We’re talking to Cuba right now, and Marco Rubio is talking to Cuba right now, and they should absolutely make a deal. Because it’s really a humanitarian threat,” he said.Cuba’s severe fuel crisis is a result of the US cutting off crucial oil supplies once imported from Venezuela. Washington’s move followed the bloody US military raid on Caracas and the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in early January.US ‘violations of peace, security and international law’Trump has been threatening Cuba and its leadership for months, and increased his choke-hold on the Cuban economy by recently passing an executive order that allows the US to impose crippling sanctions on any country that supplies oil to Cuba.