BBCCuba just had one of its toughest weeks in years after a nationwide blackout left about 10 million Cubans without power for days. Adding to the Caribbean island’s problems, Hurricane Oscar left a trail of destruction along the northeast coast, killing many people and causing widespread damage. For some communities in Cuba, the energy crisis is the new normal.
As Cuba approaches its fourth day of blackouts this week, Yusely Perez has turned to the only remaining source of fuel: firewood.
Her neighborhood in Havana hasn’t received a regular delivery of liquefied petroleum gas tanks in two months. So when the island’s entire power grid fails, causing a nationwide blackout, Yusely is forced to take desperate measures.
She explained: “My husband and I went all over the city but couldn’t find coal anywhere.
“We had to collect firewood wherever we found it on the streets. Luckily it was dry enough to cook with.”
Yusely nodded at yucca pieces slowly fried in a pan of warm oil. “We haven’t eaten for two days,” she added.
AFPSpeaking last Sunday, at the height of Cuba’s most serious energy crisis in years, the country’s Energy and Mines Minister, Vicente de la O Levy, blamed the problems on the establishment. The country’s creaking electrical infrastructure is due to what he calls the “brutal” American economy. Cuban embargo.
He argued that the embargo made it impossible to import new parts to overhaul the grid or provide enough fuel to operate power plants, or even to access credit within the system. international bank.
The US State Department countered that problems related to energy production in Cuba do not lie with Washington – but blamed it on the Cuban government’s mismanagement.
The Cuban minister affirmed that normal services will soon resume. But as soon as he uttered those words, there was another power grid collapse, the fourth in 48 hours.
At night, the full extent of the blackout becomes apparent.
The streets of Havana were almost completely dark as people sat on their doorsteps in the sweltering heat, their faces illuminated by their mobile phones – as long as their batteries lasted.
Some people, like Victor restaurant staff, are willing to publicly criticize the government.
“The people who run this country are the people who have all the answers,” he said. “But they will have to explain to the Cuban people.”
Specifically, the state’s decision to invest heavily in tourism instead of energy infrastructure frustrated him the most during the blackout.
“They have built a lot of hotels in the past few years. Everyone knows that a hotel doesn’t cost a few dollars. It costs $300 or $400 million.”
“So why is our energy infrastructure collapsing?” he asked. “Either they don’t invest in it or if they do, it doesn’t benefit the people.”
Aware of growing discontent, President Miguel Diaz-Canel appeared on state television wearing the traditional olive green costume of the Cuban revolution.
If that message wasn’t clear enough, he directly warned people not to protest because of power outages. The government will not “tolerate” vandalism or any attempt to “disrupt social order,” he said.
AFPthe protests in July 2021, when hundreds of people were arrested amid widespread protests after a series of power outages, still fresh in memory.
On this occasion, there were only a few reports of isolated incidents.
Yet the question of where Cuba chooses to direct its scarce resources remains a real point of contention on the island.
“When we talk about energy infrastructure, that refers to both generation and distribution or transmission. At every step, a lot of investment is needed,” said Cuban economist Ricardo Torres at American University in Washington DC.
Electricity production in Cuba has recently fallen below requirements, providing only about 60-70% of national needs. Mr Torres said the shortage was a “huge and serious gap” that was now being felt across the island.
Cuba’s national electricity output fell about 2.5% in 2023 compared to the previous year, according to government figures, part of a downward trend that has seen output fall a staggering 25% since 2019.
“It is important to understand that last week’s grid problems were not something that happened overnight,” Mr. Torres said.
Few people know that better than Marbeyis Aguilera. The 28-year-old mother of three is gradually getting used to life without electricity.
For Marbeyis, even the restoration of “normal service” still means no power for most of the day.
In fact, what the Havana resident had to endure for several days was daily life in her village of Aguacate in the province of Artemisa, on the outskirts of Havana.
“We have been without power for six days,” she said, making coffee on a makeshift charcoal stove inside her tin-roofed shack.
“Last night it appeared for a few hours and then turned off again. We have no choice but to cook like this or use firewood to warm the children,” she added.
Her two gas stoves and one electric stove lay silently on the stove, the room was filled with smoke. The community is in dire need of state support, she said, listing their most urgent priorities.
“First is electricity. Second, we need water. Food is running out. People with dollars sent from abroad can buy food. But we don’t have any so we can’t buy anything.”
Marbeyis said some of the main problems in Aguacate – food insecurity and water distribution – have been exacerbated by power cuts.
Her husband, who does manual labor, also needs electricity and is stuck at home waiting for instructions to come to work. The Cuban government is expected to recall state workers on Thursday – but to avoid another grid failure, all non-essential work and schools have now been suspended until next week.
“It’s especially difficult for the children,” Marbeyis added, her eyes welling up with tears, “because when they say I want this or that, we have nothing to give them.”
Living without a reliable energy source is the new normal in places like Aguacate. Many people have been struggling with electricity shortages since the Covid-19 pandemic began, coinciding with a sharp downturn in the island’s economy.
Perhaps the biggest problem for the Cuban State is that the sight of people cooking with wood and charcoal in the 21st Century is reminiscent of the poverty under dictator Fulgencio Bastista, who was overthrown by revolutionaries last year. six and a half decades.
Amid it all, on the northeast coast, the situation became even worse. As people were still dealing with power outages, Hurricane Oscar made landfall, bringing high winds, flash floods and unroofed homes.
The storm may have passed. But Cubans know that the state of the island’s energy infrastructure is so precarious that the next nationwide blackout could happen at any time.
