Cuban president calls for solidarity among citizens to cope with fuel shortage

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Wednesday called for solidarity and unity of Cubans in mitigating the impact of fuel shortage caused by U.S. sanctions against the country.

"The unilateral measures applied by Washington have led to the withdrawal of some shipping companies that carried fuel to our country," said Diaz-Canel when attending the TV program "Round Table."

It is a situation that is not attributed to poor management by the Cuban government, but a result of the U.S. aggressiveness, according to the president.

Diaz-Canel also forecast tight fuel supply would slow down the distribution of several goods, and affect the public transport and the power generation.

"I call on for the solidarity and unity of Cubans to face this situation," he said.

The president said that the country is not facing a new "Special Period" (the economic crisis in the 1990s), but a temporary energy situation, which will require savings measures and the participation of the public to reduce the impact.

"Today we have a national fuel production that guarantees 47 percent of the electricity generation, which did not exist in the 1990s," he stressed. "It is a completely different scenario."

He also cited the development of tourism, and important economic and commercial alliances, the export of medical services, the growth of foreign investments and the development of the private sector as positive aspects of the country's development.