Cuba calls off May Day parade due to lack of fuel;

Fuel shortages in Cuba have prompted the cancellation of Monday's May Day parade, otherwise known as the International Workers' Day parade, disrupting a longstanding custom. Under normal circumstances, hundreds of thousands of individuals would be transported from across the Communist-led island nation to gather in Revolution Square.

This year, however, the main square of Havana will not be filled with red-clad, flag-wielding participants honoring the Cuban Revolution and expressing their support for socialism. According to BBC News, this marks the first time the parade has been cancelled for economically-related reasons, although coronavirus concerns led to its suspension during the pandemic.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has stated that the country is receiving only two-thirds of its required fuel and that suppliers are not fulfilling their contractual obligations. Although Cuba consumes up to 500 or 600 tons of fuel daily, they are currently receiving merely 400. Consequently, citizens have experienced long gas lines, remote university classes, and costly cooking oil, among other difficulties.

Although low-grade cooking oil is available, Cuba lacks the facilities to refine it. Additionally, imports of higher-quality crude from Venezuela have decreased by 50% in recent years.

International Workers' Day was initially established in 1889, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. Then-U.S. President Grover Cleveland altered the designation to Labor Day five years later in an effort to distance the event from its socialist roots. Presently, the United States and Canada continue to celebrate this occasion on the first weekend in September. In spite of the official festivities being cancelled, local celebrations in Cuba may still occur on Monday.