On Monday, Cubans were going through the fourth day of one of the worst energy emergencies in recent years with a partial and intermittent supply of electricity, which sparked some minor protests in areas of Havana in the face of government warnings against possible excesses.
The government suspended classes and non-vital activities until Wednesday while the national energy system that collapsed on Friday recovers, but continues the operation of basic services such as hospitals and water pumping.
At the same time, the eastern part of the island faced the passage of Hurricane Oscar, downgraded to a tropical storm, which left at least six dead as of Monday.
In the early hours of the weekend there were some protests in popular neighborhoods of the capital that had not received any electricity, such as Centro Habana and Santos Suárez, The Associated Press confirmed. Several dozen neighbors were banging their pots and pans, a few in the streets and others from their balconies.
President Miguel Díaz-Canel acknowledged Sunday night that people were upset about the lack of light. “There is a complete capacity within the party and other organizations to respond to the concerns of the population, as long as it is done in a decent, organized, civilized and disciplined manner,” said the president, who warned that “we are not going to allow anyone to act.” causing vandalism and much less disturbing the citizen tranquility of our town.”
Havana, the country’s largest city and home to two million people, looked semi-paralyzed on Monday. Authorities said transportation would be normal, but few buses and cars were seen on the streets.
People queued to buy bread and subsidized food and only some gas stations served.
At the same time, in the east of the island the provinces of Guantánamo, Santiago, Granma, Las Tunas and Holguín received Oscar, a category one hurricane downgraded to a tropical storm, further complicating the energy scenario, both due to its capacity to destroy infrastructure such as the impossibility of using power plants in that area to generate energy.
Oscar entered the outskirts of the city of Baracoa on Sunday afternoon and with slow traffic, it left downpours and some storm surges, as well as flooding in low-lying areas.
At least six people died, according to Cuban television, in a town called San Antonio del Sur, in the province of Guantánamo. The authorities did not provide details so far about the amount of the damage.
The predicted path for Oscar passes through several power plants and power generation plants, which hinders a normalization of the current, explained the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O.
De la O told reporters on Sunday that he hoped to have a reconnection on Monday or Tuesday at the latest, but warned that it would reach the level before the collapse, with frequent blackouts.
For his part, President Díaz-Canel assured during a statement on Monday night that “in the next few hours” the emergency would be overcome, but he clarified that the underlying problems of blackouts, although not so prolonged, will persist.
“We will then enter a stage of managing the deficits that we have left, which was the situation we were experiencing before the first disconnection process (on Friday),” said the president, who said that work will be done to overcome them.
In photos: Cuba experienced a massive blackout that left approximately 10 million inhabitants without electricity
Technical failures, fuel shortages and high demand have caused Cuba’s thermoelectric plants to constantly fail, forcing the government to declare an energy emergency and take measures such as closing schools and factories.
The energy emergency began on Thursday night when, during peak hours, 50% of the country was in darkness due to lack of electricity generation, a situation that led to a special appearance by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero to order saving measures such as the suspension of electricity. non-vital classes or activities and the announcement of fee increases.
However, the most critical situation broke out on Friday morning with the total collapse of the energy system caused by the shutdown of the Antonio Guiteras plant, the Energy Minister explained on Sunday.
A report by engineer Lázaro Guerra of the Ministry of Energy and Mines informed local media that the country was serving about 700 megawatts. Normally the demand during peak hours is usually between 2,000 and 3,000 megawatts.
Electrical authorities reported that 80% of Havana already has electricity, although AP found that the service was intermittent.
The population was somewhat skeptical and worried.
“We have a freezer (refrigerator) full of food and we are scared,” Juan Estrada, a 53-year-old small businessman from the popular neighborhood of Centro Habana, told AP that he had no electricity since Friday, except for 10 minutes in the early hours of Monday. and then return to the cut.
Estrada said that due to the blackout, refrigerators defrost and there is no gas or water pumping, while many families depend on electricity to cook food. In addition, household appliances are affected by the initial high voltage when service is restored.
“The country is completely stopped,” said Mayde Quiñones, a 55-year-old housewife, with astonishment. “This affects everyone, especially older people,” added the woman who cares for her octogenarian mother-in-law.
The energy emergency is mainly due to an increase in demand, a lack of fuel to power generation plants and frequent breakdowns in old thermoelectric plants. The last two factors are caused by United States sanctions, which prevent Cuba from buying crude oil or its derivatives or acquiring spare parts.
Regarding electricity “there is a lot to do not only with the supply of fuels but with the poor situation of generation capacity and transmission lines. (Cuba) has not made investments in many years, it has brought these generating barges from Turkey but it needs much more investment and the economy is so bad that it cannot make those investments,” Francisco Monaldi, director of the Latin American energy program of the Baker Institute in the United States.
The situation is part of a harsh economic crisis that was felt by the population with shortages, inflation and blackouts.
During his comments on Sunday night, President Díaz-Canel said that the tense scenario was a product of the “economic war” that the United States is waging against Cuba to pressure a change in the political model on the island. “This includes financial and energy persecution. “We have not had stable fuel supplies so that the system can operate at its full capacity and with all its stability,” said the president.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday that the United States is not to blame for the blackouts in Cuba and that it would evaluate next steps if the island requested help.
Jean-Pierre said that “the Cuban government’s long-term mismanagement of its economic policy and resources has certainly increased the difficulties of the people in Cuba.”
The energy demand was behind the July 2021 protests, the most important on the island in almost three decades. Other smaller and localized demonstrations took place in October 2022 and March 2024 and on all occasions the island signaled the interest of the United States and pressure groups in using the protests to promote changes in government.
The blackout is considered Cuba’s worst in two years after Hurricane Ian made landfall as a Category 3 storm in 2022 and damaged energy facilities in the west of the country, causing another national disconnection.
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