Cuba cancels May Day parade because of fuel shortages

BBC reported that Cuba’s communist government has cancelled Monday’s traditional May Day parade because of acute fuel shortages.

Every year hundreds of thousands of people are bussed in from across the island to fill Havana’s Revolution Square on International Workers’ Day. It is the first time since the 1959 revolution that the celebrations have been cancelled for economic reasons.

In recent weeks long queues have formed at petrol stations, with drivers often waiting for days. Earlier this month, President Miguel Diaz-Canel said Cuba was only receiving two-thirds of the fuel it needs, adding that suppliers were failing to fulfill contractual obligations.