Havana

Party canceled: Cuba canceled its traditional May Day parade this week because of the island’s dire fuel shortage, the first time since the 1959 revolution that the communist government has failed to celebrate International Workers’ Day. Normally, Cuba buses hundreds of thousands of people from across the country to join a national street party in Havana’s Revolution Square. But with drivers waiting in line at empty gas stations for days, there’s simply not enough gas to spare. Analysts said the problem is that the deal with Venezuela, in which Cuba sends doctors and other workers in exchange for oil, has broken down. Venezuela has begun reserving its high-quality crude for customers that can pay in cash. Cuba is now getting lower-grade crude, and it doesn’t have the refineries to process it.