Faced with the “energy emergency” that Cuba is facing, the regime has decided to suspend all state work activities that are not considered essential, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero announced on Thursday (17) on national radio and television. He did not specify the deadline for the measure. Hours after the announcement, the country is dealing with a general blackout this Friday (18).
Throughout this week, entire provinces had already been left without electricity for hours, and many cities further away from the capital, Havana, had restricted access to electricity for less than six hours a day. Blackouts exceeded 12 hours a day for millions of people across the island.
The crisis worsened this Friday, after the island suffered a “total interruption” of the electrical system, which left the entire country without electricity. Lázaro Guerra, general director of Electricity at the Ministry of Energy and Mines, told state television that the failure occurred after a collapse in the system at Cuba’s main thermoelectric plant, and that the regime was working as quickly as possible to restore service.
Cuba’s leader, Miguel Díaz-Canel, wrote on the social network X that the regime would not rest until the system was restored and that the authorities “dedicate absolute priority to the attention and solution of the highly sensitive energy contingency.”
Cubans have been facing a routine of blackouts for three months, which have been prolonged and increasingly frequent, with a deficit of 30% in national coverage on many days.
In the municipality of Plaza de la Revolución, neighboring Havana, authorities suspended on Thursday “all services that are not vital and that generate energy costs”, with the exception of hospitals and food production centers.
Classes have also been canceled until at least next Monday, and entertainment venues will remain closed.
Authorities from the electricity company in the province of Camagüey, in the center of the country, announced severe measures since Wednesday (16). “The Camagüey Electrical Company works to guarantee service for approximately three hours”, the local company indicated in a post on the social network X.
Electricity in Cuba is generated by eight obsolete thermoelectric plants, which in some cases have malfunctions or are undergoing maintenance, by seven floating plants —which the government rents from Turkish companies— and by groups of generators. Infrastructure primarily requires fuel to function, and there is a shortage.
The island’s two largest power plants, Antonio Guiteras and Felton, are producing below capacity, according to the regime, and will soon be taken out of operation for maintenance as part of a four-year plan to revitalize Cuba’s infrastructure. .
Private companies in the country will soon pay higher tariffs for the energy they consume, Marrero said.
According to the local independent press, dozens of people protested at the beginning of the week in the provinces of Sancti Spiritus (center) and Holguín (northeast) because of the long blackouts.
Cuba is dealing with the worst crisis in three decades, with food and medicine shortages, in addition to chronic blackouts that limit the development of productive activities.
