"I imagine a very prosperous country, where we can develop and where all young people aspire to fulfill their life plans," she says without hesitation when asked what Cuba would be like without the blockade. She then pauses and explains why this cruel, extraterritorial policy of economic suffocation "affects the people the most."
Dayana Beyra Fernández, director of the base business unit Petroleum Engineering and Projects Company, is sitting in a modest office. Behind her is a bust of José Martí, two Cuban flags, a portrait of Fidel, and another of Che Guevara. She says, "Until you experience the reality of the blockade imposed by the United States firsthand, you don't really understand the true extent of this inhumane policy," because "what a cruel way to attack a people!"
The first time Dayana was at the unloading of a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) ship, the gas could not be piped from the Ñico López Refinery dock to the joint venture that receives and bottles it, because those pipelines crossed the grounds of the former Esso Standard, nationalized by the Revolutionary Government and considered by the United States to be in dispute.
Although this claim is illegitimate, if the company agreed to unload the gas using those lines, it could be exposed to sanctions from the White House.
But the gas had to be unloaded, and so "we had to invest in an exclusive and expensive line for LPG that did not pass through that area, in order for the company to agree to operate the ship."
It was then that she saw for the first time that "the blockade is a very serious matter," because foreign companies are afraid of being sanctioned.
Years later, when she was working as a process technologist at the Catalytic Cracking plant, the only one of its kind in Cuba, which supplied most of the liquefied gas needed by Havana and part of the west of the country, she witnessed another ban:
"The Brazilians who sold us the catalyst suddenly terminated the contract because a U.S. company had bought 50% of the factory's shares."
She recalls that they had to "rush" to find a similar catalyst: a selective one that would allow them to obtain fuels such as gasoline and LPG from a lower-value product.
And the effort, so as not to cause a production gap at the plant, was enormous.
***
Blackouts, transportation, fuel... quality of life. Dayana does not hold back when talking about everything that hurts Cubans.
She takes the opportunity to mention that every day she encounters cases where foreign technicians arrive in the country to implement necessary technologies in thermoelectric power plants, but leave "as soon as they set foot in the Cuban airport," pressured by restrictions imposed from abroad.
In addition, she comments, "there is a denial of credit or access to spare parts, even if we have the money, because they contain American components. That is why it has been very difficult to keep the thermoelectric plants running."
She also mentions that she has colleagues who have been directly sanctioned for daring to run foreign trade companies responsible for transporting fuel to Cuba. "And yet, they courageously continue to seek alternatives and work for the Cuban state-owned company."
This siege, which exacerbates financial constraints, can be illustrated by a simple example: economic transactions that have been returned to the island's banks, as if Cuban money were not good.
"How are we going to get the money to the supplier?" asks Dayana, knowing that this is one of the unknowns for any Cuban.
"Life, she continues, becomes much more expensive when we have to make multiple currency conversions to purchase a necessary product, "and that could be solved by buying directly from a supplier."
Dayana, who is also a deputy to the National Assembly of People's Power for the capital municipality of Regla, remains as tenacious as ever: the same tenacity she shows every time she defends Cuba and the oil sector.
For her, the Cuban Petroleum Union (Cupet) is constantly circumventing the blockade, because otherwise, "it would not be possible to bring fuel to the nation. It becomes too difficult. That is why we must continue to bring together people and countries that support the just cause of ending this hostile U.S. policy."
"And if, with these difficulties we face, with this economic and financial siege, we have managed to survive, what would we be like without the blockade?"
"I believe we could have the prosperous country we owe to the people. A Cuba without the blockade would be what we want: with better living conditions, with the Revolution's programs at their best, with happier children..."
The persecution of fuel transfer operations to Cuba, including shipping companies, insurers, reinsurers, banks, individuals, and governments, has reduced the portfolio of foreign suppliers; and those that remain have increased their prices considerably, based on country risk.
IN THERMOELECTRIC POWER PLANTS
Since January 10, 2024, the Ernesto Guevara thermoelectric power plant (CTE, in Spanish) has not received spare parts for its pumps because the Italian supplier C.R. Technology Systems was acquired by Trillium Flow Technologies, which manages purchases from the US. The lack of authorization from OFAC for the legal permits meant that the contract was not completed.
The Ernesto Guevara, 10 de Octubre, and Máximo Gómez CTE plants use Voith electrohydraulic actuators in their modernized turbines. Regular suppliers, such as Real Control and Energo Control, have reported that, due to the Helms-Burton Act, they cannot sell this equipment to Cuba.
Taichi HD Cuba was asked to supply a new VCS-6 000 AVR excitation system for the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes CTE and responded that Mitsubishi Generator Corp. is the right company to handle this matter. However, it cannot submit a quote due to strict U.S. sanctions, and this cannot be changed.
IN THE OIL INDUSTRY, THE BLOCKADE IN NUMBERS
• $496,075,620 in damages to the Energy and Mining sector (March 2025 - May 2025).
• $5,980 was the average cost of a 20-foot container with resources for the oil industry, brought from China in 2024.
• $3,920 was the cost of a container brought from Canada.
• 2,590 the cost of container brought from Europe.
• 800-1000 would be the cost from Houston to the port of Mariel, under normal conditions, depending on the time of year.
• 1,014,298 dollars Cuba would have saved in 2024.
• 138,028 tons less oil produced by the national industry in 2024, due to lack of material resources and financing.
