My Days Without Electricity in Havana, Cuba

By Irina Pino

HAVANA TIMES – We are in limbo, in a country where uncertainty reigns, and we do not know what tomorrow will bring. But why think about it? We live subject to the inertia of a daily life in which we merely survive; money is used only for feeding ourselves —poorly feeding ourselves, to be more precise.

Yesterday, when I went to the agro-market, as I walked, I saw people talking about the same topics: the constant blackouts, how at any moment they might decide to completely eliminate the ration booklet, and how those in power own most of the private businesses.

While I was buying beans and root vegetables, the seller mentioned she had sold all the salt and vinegar bottles because, without electricity, people were trying to preserve the meat they had frozen.

After I paid for my things, an elderly woman at the end of the line fainted. The staff quickly gave her a glass of water and fanned her face. When she recovered, she said she hadn’t had breakfast yet because she had no coffee, and the daily bread roll hadn’t arrived at the store for two days. Sad cases like this one are becoming more common now.

Regarding the blackouts, in my area, La Puntilla in Miramar, we had been without power for three consecutive days. Then, on Friday, there was a total disconnection across the country, the darkest face of the island. The news is always the same: the US embargo, which I don’t doubt is real, but they can’t blame it for the difficulties we’ve faced since the previous century.

Other reports refer to outdated thermoelectric plants that haven’t been maintained or upgraded technically. The reality is that the people continue to suffer. The weather, with its hurricanes and storms, doesn’t help us. It seems as if Cuba has been cursed by a higher power.

In our apartment building, we tried to save water from the main tank, and a neighbor who owns a generator offered to set it up. But later, he realized it didn’t work.

At night, it’s been worse because I didn’t even have a candle to light before going to charge my phone. The refrigerator completely thawed, and I had to cook the fish before it spoiled. I left the seven eggs out to air.

I’ve been going to bed with the chickens because there’s nothing else to do. I’ve slept poorly and woken up multiple times at dawn to check if the electricity had come back on.

In some way, there was help from CIMEX, and the La Puntilla shopping center, which have fuel generators, allowing people to charge their phones.

In several parts of Havana, the electricity was restored and then cut off again. Today, at nine in the morning, it came back in Playa. As soon as the water pump turned on, I started the washing machine. There’s a rumor that it will be suspended again.

This, I imagine, will continue; it’s just a patch on the bigger problem.

Read more from Irina Pino’s diary here.