Cuban power grid fails again, plunging 10 million into darkness and heightening economic strain | Ukraine news
A second nationwide blackout in July pushed Havana residents into long lines and makeshift routines. The outages hint at deeper economic and political strains on the island.
Cuba, Havana – between the first and second nationwide power outages that Cuba endured in July, the story’s narrator describes life in the city in the darkness: people stand in line for food brought weekly from rural areas, behind two psychologists in white coats who openly discuss their patients.
I am not worried about people who say they feel stressed
– interlocutor
These are the ones who say they are fine. There is really something wrong with them.
– interlocutor
The power grid in Cuba failed again on Tuesday, dragging about 10 million Cubans into darkness and heightening fears about the future. The island’s communist-led economy is collapsing, and the Trump administration’s sanctions are once again adding to the pressure.
But if there is anything to take away from nearly 15 years living in Havana, it is how well Cubans can endure hardship, and how effective the government is at maintaining control.
Life for most Cubans has never been easy. Electricity, water, and fuel are scarce privileges, and every day they try to squeeze the most out of the available hours of light.
After the second nationwide blackout on Friday, a Havana neighborhood lasted 36 hours without power. Finally, at four in the morning on Sunday, neighbors turned on the lights in the adjacent house, and people in the light rushed to their homes, did laundry, cooked, and charged devices in a matter of hours.
The next morning, again in darkness, a journalist spoke with neighbor Jorge, who helps residents turn small plots in front of houses into gardens to meet the government’s mandate for self-sufficiency in food.
He welcomed the brief return to what they call the “20th century.”
We had four hours of uninterrupted power, he said. When did such a thing last happen?
– Jorge
Uncertainty plays with our minds. No one knows when the power will go out again or for how long. Sometimes it returns after long outages, but within minutes it disappears again, and the whole neighborhood emits a collective groan. Fatigue is felt by every acquaintance.
The government maintains a WhatsApp channel to inform residents about the duration of power outages. It is no longer surprising to see outages lasting more than 30 hours. If power returns even for a few minutes, the counter resets. When Cubans realize they are being deceived, they respond with poop emojis or the American flag.
Some have begun banging pots at night, but in a country where the government treats dissent as open treason, there are no organized protests yet.
Domestic and International Contexts and Perspective
Cubans are increasingly realizing that they are at a pivotal moment in the island’s history, and ahead they may face new upheavals.
Every day on state television, a host who seems to have the least desirable job on the island forecasts electricity shortages just as other countries report weather or traffic. As energy demand grows in the hot months, the shortage worsens.
“The solution to Cuba’s energy crisis cannot come from within Cuba itself; it must come from outside,” said CNN Jorge Piñón, a senior energy researcher at the University of Texas at Austin.
Apart from the U.S. embargo on oil supplies, Cuba’s energy sector is paralyzed by a lack of state investment in aging power plants for decades, making any quick solutions difficult, Piñón notes.
“Cuba produces enough oil domestically, but at any moment half of the thermal plants break down due to maintenance,” Piñón stressed.
There are no signs that assistance is forthcoming. The United States has deprived Cuba of its key ally – Venezuela – with its vast oil reserves. Russia, involved in the conflict with Ukraine, cannot provide additional help to the island, and Mexico continues to heed U.S. threats not to send oil shipments over fears of economic sanctions.
The Trump administration says the pressure is aimed at high-ranking officials, not ordinary Cubans.
Yet there are no clear signs that the regime’s leadership will cut costs.
In a July interview with USA Today, Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez-Castro, grandson and bodyguard of former President Raúl Castro, showed off a gold chain, luxury brands, and a Jet Set lifestyle inaccessible to most Cubans.
Rodríguez-Castro, whom Cuba regards as a mediator in ongoing talks with the Trump administration, does not hold a high position, but he stated that most Cubans do not share the privileges that come with his family.
The Cubans I know were shocked by such statements at a time when their already fragile standard of living was falling.
As if they don’t understand how we live, and how our daily wages are increasingly near zero value.
– Homero
Perusing the menu, Homero sighed loudly and said that every dish costs more than what he earns each month.
All of this is happening as Cubans continue to endure this existential ordeal, hoping that the situation will change depending on internal and external factors.