Another Nationwide Blackout in Cuba
HAVANA TIMES – When this new nationwide blackout happened, on Wednesday, September 10, at 9 in the morning, my son and I were in the middle of some bureaucratic errands when an official came out to announce: the national power grid had collapsed, but not to worry… so we returned home.
Luckily, I had food prepared from the day before, and in this building the water lasts a while because the pump is turned on every other day. I’m also thankful that we have gas piped in from the street.
At night, my son went to a friend’s house, while I felt like a caged lion, pacing between the balcony and my bedroom. Well, I went to bed at 9:30 PM, and I think I had one of the worst nights of my life, between the noise of several electric generators—including those at the La Puntilla shopping center, located inside the parking lot surrounding my building—and those of two neighbors.
The petroleum fumes filled my room, so I had to close the window and endure terrible heat. To keep mosquitoes away, I lit incense and rubbed Chest Rub on my skin so they wouldn’t bite me. In the end, I woke up several times and the whole neighborhood was still in darkness, except for CIMEX, with some of its offices lit up, and the lamps in its parking lots.
At 6 in the morning, I couldn’t take it anymore—I couldn’t stand being in bed. I sat with my cat on the balcony to wait for dawn. When it got light, I had breakfast and went to the bakery. On my way back, the electricity was back, but two hours later, it went out again. I decided not to get upset and went to the sea. There I relaxed and forgot about the whole thing for a while, even playing in the water with a neighbor’s little dog.
Then, back to reality. Since it was going to be a long haul, I showered and had lunch. I spent the whole afternoon reading. We went to bed at 10, and by midnight the power service had been restored.
What the Ministry of Energy and Mines doesn’t say is why the total disconnection of the national grid happened. They only report that it was an unexpected shutdown of the Guiteras thermoelectric plant, something that already happened last year.
Life in Cuba has become an uncertainty. Now we’re not only subject to dealing with the sky-high and abusive prices of food, but also with events that keep repeating themselves.
The ones who suffer the most are people who depend on electricity to cook, especially those with pets and small children. What kind of explanation could you give to their innocence?
A friend told me that black-market gas canisters now cost 10,000 CUP. Can you imagine such madness?
I remember my childhood, when during blackouts my mother, my sister, and I would sing together, and it wasn’t a tragedy. But everything has changed for the worse—now the country is like a ship leaning to one side.