In Cuba’s Provinces People Live Without Electricity
exhausted, sleepless, and in the dark
Many families cook in the hallways, using charcoal or wood, making them so smoky it’s hard to breathe.
HAVANA TIMES – The moments the electricity comes on in the Cuban provinces – be it daytime or the middle of the night – frenetic activity begins. This often occurs after 20-hour daily blackouts. The residents never know for sure when that moment may come, but they do know that when it does, they’ll have very little time to do everything that the extended blackouts haven’t allowed them to do.
“We only find out when it actually comes on, and then all we know is that we have two, three, or four hours ahead of us,” says Alicia, a resident of Sancti Spíritus, who can’t understand the electricity rationing ‘schedule’ imposed on the central province. “The only thing that’s certain is that you have to start running around, turn the washing machine on, or put a little rice in the electric cooker.”
On Monday, it happened at one in the morning: “At that hour, I started to prepare breakfast for the family, because my husband had to go to work in the morning and by that time there’d be no electricity.”
Residents of Camagüey report a similar situation. During the 36 hours that a Havana resident spent in the city visiting relatives, “There were maybe six hours of electricity, at most,” he told 14ymedio. “When the power comes back on, there’s a race against time with the electrical appliances: turn on the washing machine, charging cell phones, freeze some meat, turn on the water pumps to store water in the tanks.”
What surprised him most was how “they’ve adjusted their lives to get by without electricity.” Ines, from Sancti Spíritus, says the same thing: “People are so mentally exhausted that they just say: ‘the power’s out,’ and they know that more heat is coming without a fan, and that cooking will be difficult, but they’ve found their ways to survive. They no longer care whether there is electricity or not.”
There are professionals who keep working by candlelight or use a rechargeable lantern. A few days ago, that’s how a veterinarian from Ciega de Avila attended to his customers, with a makeshift headlamp tied to his head. Although tired, he and his assistant divided up the urgent cases that arrived at the clinic, while rolling his eyes at the ceiling and muttering: “Long live the Cuban Revolution.”
The survival mechanism is such that if you ask them how they’re doing, people respond, “everything is normal,” even in a city like Holguín, where, according to the latest Electric Company schedule, they only receive seven hours of electricity every other day. On alternate days, they “enjoy” three hours more. However, according to the 14ymedio correspondent in the area, “in some places, the power is going out earlier than scheduled and coming on later.”
Those who can, cook with firewood or charcoal; as a result, the streets of a country that boasts of its commitment to clean energy are filled with unbreathable air. “At eight o’clock at night, you can’t go out because you’ll suffocate,” confirms Alicia. “Everyone is cooking with firewood in their doorways or patios. There’s smoke everywhere.”
But even these primitive methods are not available to everyone. “Those who can afford it cook with firewood,” says a resident of Santiago de Cuba, “because a can of charcoal costs 300 pesos and a sack of it costs 1,200.”
In Santa Clara, the electricity is also cut off constantly. Roniel reports. “If it goes off in the morning, the workers leave home, and do whatever work they can in the city, then come home; but if it’s after three in the afternoon, everyone just goes home.” They know the power won’t be turned back on in the two hours left until 5 pm when their workday ends. Roniel comments resignedly: “You tell me what kind of productivity a country can have this way.”
The unreasonable schedules also mean that people can’t rest, something that’s already difficult for them to do in the summer heat, with swarming mosquitoes and no fans to keep them away. “You can’t sleep, because when the lights come on, you have to get up and get busy doing things,” Ines explains. Because of this, individuals wander the streets flustered, stressed, deranged by the lack of sleep. Many are also visibly drunk – alcohol and drugs are the only escape.
This Friday, Cuba’s Electric Company predicts a demand for 3,750 Megawatts of energy, while they only have 2,215 MW available, which means they face a deficit of 1,535 MW. That’s a “low” number in a week where the predominant energy deficit has never been less than 1,700 MW.
Ines says she’s been suffering from nerves for months, without having been able to go to the doctor. “There’s no time to get sick here,” the gaunt-faced woman states. “I’m waiting for the doctor to come back from vacation and give me some pills to feel better.”
This scene takes place before the attentive gazes of the neighbors. The lack of distractions, don’t even talk about the lack of an internet signal nearly all day long, means that everyone is intently engaged in each other’s conversations and discussions. Noting this, Ines lowers her voice. “I realize that I’m living in an impossible place. When I think about it, what I want to do is to die, to disappear, because I don’t know what kind of future there’ll be.”
First published in Spanish by 14ymedio and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.
This is not a ‘Trump’ problem, as people say or an issue because of the blockade. The blockade has been there for decades and the electricity problems were never as bad as they are now. Matter of fact it was relatively fine. The issue now is basically bad planning. This is what you get when there is no investment in basic infrastructure, but priorities for tourism, which seemed like the ‘engine’ of the Cuban economy but is now stalled halfway up the Sierra Maestra, and running out of steam. If half of the money invested in tourism were diverted on time to fix the dilapidated and old energy system, it would have been fine. Heck I even think that if 1/4th of that would have been enough.
Decades of the blockade, and they ‘dollarize’ their economy. It’s like dumb and dumber;
we have a US blockade: check
we will dollarize the economy: check
whoopsie, the ultimate catch 22. Because inadvertently, the Cuban leadership has steered their economy in the hands of the US, because now they are chronically dependent on the US dollar.
What angers me as an outsider is not the blockade. What angers me is the almost criminal way that the Cuban people are abused by their own government. A government that lacks foresight and a backbone. Trump is not the problem here. At least the Cuban government had years to prepare, if not decades. But tourism was an easy fix for the problem, which did not require a lot of consideration at the time. And it worked, but then came Covid, and now the world’s economy is generally not that good, and leading to less bookings in general. It is not specifically a problem of communism either, because now we find out that Deng had a lot more foresight than Castro ever had.
IT is very bad just last week a large rechargeable security flashlight light the military uses in Canada was stolen during a blackout in Holquin along with other items medical supplies and a bike and trailer and a cell phone. The police are not able to do anything about increased crime . The gov and the military do not seem worried about the people of Cuba or the tourists now. Even the people who have small generator inverters can not get gasoline to even run 3 hours per day or spare parts from China.
I help as much as I can..
The situation of power and Internet is awful.I am texting every day and it just seems to get worse
Trump-ease up on your crippling controls over these poor people. When will the rest of the world come to their aid? EVERYONE-HELP THESE POOR PEOPLE HOWEVER YOU CAN.
My sympathies for the people of Cuba. They are an amazing, resilient, grateful, honest group of individuals. I have been visiting Cuba for two months, February and March since 2017. I did no visit in 2021 or 2022 because of COVID. During my seven visits, I have always admired the respect and support that the Cubans demonstrated towards tourists and their fellow citizens. I have always felt SAFE in Cuba! I walk through the streets of Varadero anytime without fear of being attacked or harassed. To me, that’s extremely important. I am a Canadian Senior Citizen who is looking for a warm, welcoming, safe place to spend the winter, and Cuba is the best place in my opinion. I have travelled to more than thirty five countries, and for value, weather, great beaches and safety, Cuba wins, hands down!
I don’t go to Cuba for GOURMET food. There are sufficient choices and the fruits and vegetables are fresh from local sources.
I sincerely recommend that more Canadians support these long suffering people who are most grateful for anything that they receive.
Take an extra suitcase of toiletries, school supplies, clothing, sewing supplies and materials as humanitarian supplies and some airlines will not charge for the extra luggage. Please check with your airline to verify. In the past, I have had compassionate airline employees who didn’t charge me extra and I have paid $75.00 also. It was worth the gratitude and appreciation that they showed us.
Canadian Winters are long and COLD!
Go to Cuba! The weather is perfect, the beaches are beautiful, the people are friendly and welcoming!
Cuba has had many difficulties and that lifestyle with light coming and going is not sustainable. That is the saddest thing, that such a culturally rich country has to suffer so much is simply a night terror from which they cannot wake up.
I wish my people could be free from these lives they lead, to be free from wretched grip of capmunism the Castros have bestowed on you. The Castros lead a life only people outside of the island lead while its people struggle with day to day life. This is inhuman, this is the so-called Cuban Revolution.
Where do all the hotels along the coast get their electricity? How come they always have, but the rest of the country is living in primitive times?
From a global perspective there is no public awareness of the gravity of the situation in Cuba and for so long. My heart goes out to the people and I feel they should be helped more than they are as other countries are globally.
This has become the unfortunate norm for most people beyond the relative security of precious Havana. In the past few years, the electricity has been disappearing for longer and longer periods in most provinces. And, in my observation, the lack of a schedule for when power is on or off – mainly the latter in most places – makes life even more difficult.
As an infrequent tourist, I have lost count of how many rechargeable fans, lights and battery banks I’ve taken as gifts in the past few years. I’ve also learned to check if the place where I intend to stay is equipped with a generator. Although it’s also difficult to get fuel, this gives one a slightly better chance of being able to recharge phones and other things. But, even resorts sometimes have difficulty getting fuel or their generators break down.
Appliances such as fridges or freezers also struggle in this new regime of extended outages and random “on-ages.” The motors fight to quickly do the intended job of cooling the interior, which is often nearly empty, and their lives are foreshortened.
I don’t understand why the situation, or the need for adaptation, is a surprise to anyone. This problem has been growing for years. Don’t people know about what’s going on outside of Havana? Maybe someone should do an article about the migration to the capital from other parts of Cuba. I know numerous people who have sold or simply abandoned their homes in underserved areas in favor of a marginally better life in the city, despite issues such as mounting garbage and more regular building collapses.
Or, if one wants to take on a more challenging investigative piece of journalism, look into why the energy supply schedule is rife with randomosity and irregularity. I can imagine reasons why Havana gets more electricity but I fail to understand any rationale for not maintaining a routine for power supply elsewhere. Knowing what few hours electricity will be on in a day would help people both physically and emotionally.
These, of course, are merely a few comments from someone who doesn’t live in Cuba.
I rather be dead than have a life like that, because that’s no life.