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Havana (AFP) – The daily blackouts in Cuba due to electricity shortages that have been taking place since May have provoked irritation and unusual protests, which according to the government respond to the “counterrevolution,” while the opposition considers these power outages to be “its best ally.”
“People can’t stand the heat, they go out to the streets, to the balconies at night to wait for the light to come” and to be able to turn on their fans, Estrella Ramírez, a resident of Bauta, just 29 km from Havana, tells AFP. “Things are heating up,” she adds.
The blackouts were one of the triggers for the massive anti-government protests on July 11, 2021, the largest in 60 years.
A year away and as the summer heat intensifies, the cuts have sparked new demonstrations in some small communities.
Cauldron-banging, dozens of people marched into the night on July 14 in Los Palacios, a town in Pinar del Río, in the west. “Turn on the current, pinga!”, “We don’t want a tooth!” (mere words), “Down with the dictatorship!”, is heard in videos broadcast on networks.
Officials confirmed that the protest broke out due to an electrical failure and that there were no arrests or acts of vandalism.
Independent media reported similar protests on Thursday, July 21, in Jagüey Grande, Matanzas (west) and in Caibarién and Sagua la Grande, in Santa Clara (center).
The protesters respond to “the counterrevolution and what those who have us blocked want,” President Miguel Díaz-Canel said the next day, alluding to the US embargo.
But for veteran dissident Manuel Cuesta Morúa, these blackouts are “the best ally” of the opposition, he told AFP.
“It updates the opposition’s criticism of the obsolescence of the model; they are the structural effect of the government’s incompetence and give the opportunity for the generalized and obscure expression of accumulated social unrest,” he maintains.
“The Fatigue Point”
Until now, these cacerolazos were unthinkable on the island, where nearly 700 protesters of July 11 are still in prison.
Blackouts are not new in Cuba. In the 1990s during the so-called “special period” they lasted up to 16 hours a day.
However, “there was no accumulated political wear, nor had the point of fatigue that exists today been reached.
Now there are no 16-hour blackouts, like in 1993-94; but its impact is much greater, as demonstrated on July 11,” says Cuban sociologist Rafael Hernández, in an article published in the Center for Latin American & Latino Studies, of the American University.
According to official figures, 68% of Cuban households cook with electric stoves. Scheduled power outages affect different locations at times of peak consumption, when food is prepared.
In Jesús Menéndez, a small town in Las Tunas (east), the current goes out between 8 and 10 hours a day. “There are a large number of people who cook with electricity,” Gisela González, a 54-year-old housewife, told AFP by telephone.
“What do they do? They cook with charcoal (vegetable) or bright light (kerosene), when they can get it,” he replies.
“Understanding” and “saving”
Díaz-Canel has asked Cubans for “understanding” and “saving” electricity in the face of a situation that has no “immediate” solution.
According to the National Electrical Union (UNE, state-owned), 95% of power generation is carried out with fossil fuels, some of them imported, which, in the current international situation, cost 30% more.
The Government has recognized that of the 20 power generating blocks in the country, 19 exceed the 35-year useful life of these equipments.
The maintenance work started in May and the constant breakdowns leave very little room for maneuver for the Cuban Administration.
“The emergency situation that the electrical system is going through will continue and will gradually recover,” Edier Guzmán, director of thermal generation for the Electric Union, told state television a few days ago.
The national electricity system currently has an average energy distribution availability of 2,500 megawatts, insufficient for the demand of households at times of maximum consumption, which reaches 2,900 megawatts.
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