Discontent Grows in Cuba with a New Record of Blackouts
HAVANA TIMES – The power blackouts in Cuba are reaching a record never seen in recent years. On Friday, March 8, the official press reported, “there was a deficit of electricity generation for 24 hours, and it has not been possible to restore the power this morning.” The deficit is unprecedented since the energy crisis escalated two years ago.
For Saturday, the outlook was not much better, and the blackouts continue throughout the country affecting both residential customers and production centers.
The figures included in a statement of the UNE (Electric Company of Cuba) spoke for themselves. Dozens of generation plants, large and small, are out of service some for breakdowns and maintenance and others for a lack of fuel.
Thus, citizens are desperate, and rumors of demonstrations run throughout the Island. Protests broke out in August 2022 in Nuevitas, Camaguey when the prolonged blackouts became intolerable. Today’s are even longer.
The repression unleashed after the demonstrations in Nuevitas – combined with the repression and mass arrests that occurred during and after the July 11, 2021 protests, may explain why, for the moment, the frustration is only expressed in complaints on social networks. One of the posts that asked users about the place and time of their power outages was immediately followed by hundreds of comments.
“Four hours with power and twenty without,” said one of them, corroborated in some areas of the Island, such as Santiago de Cuba, by the official newspaper Sierra Maestra.
In Güines, Mayabeque, another commentator said that the power had been missing this Friday “since 8 at night, and still nothing after 12 hours without power. Yesterday we had only 3 hours during the day with power.” In the same province, in San Jose de las Lajas, the power went off at 5 in the morning until 3 in the afternoon, and after two hours it went off again for 10 more hours. In Sancti Spíritus, there were places with up to 14 hours of blackouts.
The complaints cover the entire national territory. In Bayamo, Granma, people also reported 14 hours of blackout; in Minas, Camagüey, up to 18 consecutive hours. In the municipality of Cespedes in Camagüey, a resident complained: “From yesterday until now they gave us three hours of power. They only put it on from 2 to 5 in the morning; when no one is cooking or awake.”
Havana, which until a few days ago was free of the power cuts, now suffers from them on a daily basis. Four hours in a row of no power is predicted, for example, in Nuevo Vedado, where the editorial staff of this newspaper is located.
“These blackouts make life miserable, but I really can’t complain,” concedes a woman living in Central Havana. “The power has been off for several hours two days in a row, and the water pump in the building didn’t allow the water to fill the tank enough for me to wash. However, I imagine that those poor people (in other places) who had only two hours of power must be on the verge of suicide.”
Translated by Regina Anavy for Translating Cuba
Stephen webster: This is a forum for discussion on the significant daily economic, social, and political problems in primarily the Caribbean and Latin American nations.
I do not want to take up space discussing irrelevant issues pertaining to rich, wealthy Canada.
But when you make generalized atrocious attacks against many Canadians such as “ I see too many in Canada that stay in gov hotel as long as possible and do not want to do farm work or work as cleaners but just drink and smoke away the money the gov gives them in Canada.” well, an appropriate rightful response will happen.
Attention Stephen the hotels are being paid for by the gov with taxpayer dollars while a number of jobs are available. At the same time in Ontario the refugees often get a very good hotel for 3 or more months while we have disabled people who are often disabled truck drivers or veterans unable to get the same thing. I have no problem with helping out anyone . I volunteer with a nonprofit and I can show you refugees staying at the best western in Windsor Ontario that I see doing some bad things. I see a lot of people that come from certain countries like Holland that will do anything to look after themselves and their families. Then 10 years later despite having a full time job still help out while many the gov paid for hotel do not seem to want to work in my opinion.
Stephen webster writes “. . . but I see too many in Canada that stay in gov hotel as long as possible and do not want to do farm work or work as cleaners but just drink and smoke away the money the gov gives them in Canada.” Really?
Let me as a Canadian set the record straight.
There is no such thing in Canada as “ gov hotel”. All hotels in Canada, like elsewhere in the world, except in totalitarian states, are private enterprises owned by individuals and/or corporations.
Moreover, no Canadian is compelled to “ . . . do farm work or work as cleaners . . .”. Canadians in a free and democratic society have the choice to do whatever work they feel qualified to do. And if farm work or work as cleaners are two areas Canadians choose not to engage, they should not be publicly admonished for their choices.
Private farm operations in Canada hire whom they want be they Canadians or foreigners. Private individuals and private companies hire cleaners as they so choose: Canadians or foreigners.
Stephen webster can you provide the readers with some empirical evidence to substantiate your outrageous assumptions that Canadians “ . . . just drink and smoke away the money the gov gives them in Canada.” ? This assertion is absolutely absurd.
Wages in Cuba are now not enough to even buy food and transport. The whole system needs to change at the southern border of the U S I have seen many people living in tents waiting for a chance to go to the U S. It would be so much better to change the entire system of business to something along the lines of Holland or Canada and still keep gov health care and gov education. I see many people from Cuba in the U S work 60 to 75 hours a week and become successful but I see too many in Canada that stay in gov hotel as long as possible and do not want to do farm work or work as cleaners but just drink and smoke away the money the gov gives them in Canada. Cuba needs the right tools to turn the economy around and to reward those that will work like many immigrants do in Canada often over 70 hours a week not smoke or drink much alcohol or do drugs.