Work activity halted in Cuba due to “energy emergency” – DW – 10/18/2024
“In this situation that has worsened in recent days, additional instructions were issued to stop all state work activities except those that are absolutely essential,” Prime Minister Marrero said in a national network radio broadcast this Thursday (10/17/2024). Are not.” Television, without specifying the period of measurement. The official said that this provision is to give priority to service till homes.
For his part, President Miguel Diaz-Canel said earlier on the social network X that the island is facing an “energy emergency” due to problems obtaining fuel abroad to feed its energy system.
The President said, “The main reason for the complex scenario we are living through is the intensification of the economic warfare and financial and energy oppression of the United States, which makes it difficult to import the fuel and other resources necessary for that industry. ” to intensify Washington’s sanctions against the island.
Electricity bill will become expensive for private sector
The Prime Minister also announced that a new, higher electricity rate would be established for the non-state sector – now dominated by the residential sector – because “they are creating the wealth.”
The Prime Minister did not give details about the plan, except that it will have a higher rate than the residential sector, which is “subsidized”, and that the government expects it to be implemented this year.
Following six weeks of continuous and prolonged blackouts across the country, Marrero pushed the initiative in an unusual television appearance. Further, in an interaction with two officials of the Ministry of Energy and Mines, he reviewed the problems of the national energy system and reiterated the government’s strategy to mitigate the impacts.
Alfredo López, director general of the State Electricity Union (UNE), assured in this context that solutions will come “step by step” and that results will be visible only “in the medium term.” And he said the ministry is “aware” and “very sensitive” to the problems that frequent blackouts generate for the population.
The biggest blackout of this year so far
On Thursday, Cuba recorded its highest rate of power outages so far this year, reaching 51% at times of peak demand, according to the state-run Electrical Union (UNE). This means that the outage affected more than half of the country simultaneously and led to blackouts of up to 20 hours a day in some provinces.
In Cuba, electricity is generated through its eight decommissioned thermoelectric plants, which have become obsolete due to over four decades of disuse and a chronic lack of investment and maintenance. The addition of setting up and building seven floating plants, which the government rents to Turkish companies, is a quick, but expensive, polluting solution that does not solve the structural problem of the national energy system.
Added to this has been the fuel shortage in recent times, which is a result of the state lacking foreign exchange to import.
With a 30% reduction in national coverage for several days, Cubans are again suffering from disgusting blackouts for several months, which are becoming longer and more frequent. Large areas of Havana also recorded service interruptions of four hours or more per day.
In the Plaza de la Revolution municipality in Havana, which is the main center of power in the country, this Thursday suspended “all services that are not vital and that generate energy costs”, except for essential centers such as hospitals and food. Had gone. Processing, the local government announced on its Facebook page. Classes are also suspended till Monday and night clubs and entertainment venues will remain closed.
Starting Wednesday, authorities in Camagüey province in the center of the country announced they were working “to guarantee service for about three hours,” the local power company indicated in X.
“Here we are in a complete blackout, there’s no name for it. The cold stuff is bugging us,” Eugenia Sanchez, a 41-year-old housewife, told AFP via WhatsApp. “Earlier they were 2 and 4 pm. Now they are 8 and 10 pm,” he said.
In La Tunas (East) province, authorities began distributing charcoal for cooking, especially in urban settlements.
Economic and political impact
Repeated outages in power supply hurt Cuba’s economy – which according to official figures shrank 1.9% in 2023 and remains below 2019 levels – and has already been economically depressed for more than four years. Social unrest has spread in the severely affected society.
They have also sparked anti-government protests, including demonstrations on July 11, 2021 – the largest in decades – and on March 17 in Santiago de Cuba (East) and elsewhere.
Dozens of people demonstrated earlier this week in the provinces of Sancti Spiritus (center) and Holguín (northeast) over prolonged blackouts, according to the tolerant local independent press.
RML (AFP, EFE)