Millions of Cubans did not have electricity for a second night on Saturday after a generalized blackout hit the island, the fourth in less than six months.
Cubans have faced a serious economic crisis marked by the generalized shortage of food, fuel and medicine, and the aging of the island and that often fails the energy system has worsened things.
The last important interruption began on Friday afternoon in a substation near the capital of Havana and then extended throughout the country, affecting most people on the island with cash liquidity problems.
The authorities said on Saturday that they were working to restore power, but acknowledged that progress was slow.
Meanwhile, the Cubans were doing everything possible to get along.
Jorge Suárez, a 47 -year -old lawyer, was having a beer in a bar in Havana where a small generator was helping to keep the place open.
“You get used to conditions,” he said AFP. “It’s like animals that live in the desert: they have to adapt to live without water.
“We just have to adapt and wait for the government … to solve the problem.”
Adela Alba, 37, has the establishment, which also serves as a grocery store.
“It’s very difficult to work like this,” he said.
Its generator allows you to “maintain a minimum of service, because we have to pay the rent and taxes despite the situation.” She added.
In other places, people cooked food with firewood due to the shortage of gas gas, while others gathered in homes or businesses with generators to be able to load their cell phones.
‘From bad to worse’
Ariel Mas Castellanos, an official of the electric company in Havana, told the local media that the team that failed “has been in service for many years and is aging.”
The authorities said on Saturday that the parallel circuits were helping to provide energy to priority sectors such as hospitals and some neighborhoods.
“Several provinces have parallel circuits and the generating units are beginning to synchronize” with the national network, said President Miguel Díaz-Canel in X.
Silvia Torres, a 64 -year -old resident in the province of Las Tunas in eastern Cuba, is in an area that benefits from parallel circuits.
“Thank God, we woke up with the light … a blessing because I know that many provinces are still in the dark,” he said AFP by phone.
The interruption of Friday night immersed the streets of Havana in the dark, forcing people to navigate by phone and flashlight and get home with dry taps.
“Without elevator, without water, it is horrible. I feel cornered, very annoying, ”said Ruben Borroto, 69, who has to walk on seven floors to his apartment in the capital.
“Even if you don’t want it, this situation bothers you,” said Daymi Echenique, 26, added that he has not had a second of light. “There is no drop of water, and the food is starting to spoil,” he said.
Much of the Cuban capital faces almost daily energy cuts of four or five hours, interruptions that can last 20 hours or more in the provinces.
In February, the authorities suspended all activity on the island for two days to avoid a generalized blackout.
Two interruptions in the last quarter of 2024 lasted several days, one of them during a hurricane.
“God helps us, this country is going from worse,” resident of Havana, 82, Castellanos, said on Saturday.
The eight thermal energy plants of Cuba, almost all that date from the 1980s or 1990s, experience regular failures.
Turkish powering barges and a series of generators underpin the National Energy System, but the United States embargo since 1962 makes it difficult to import fuel.
The government is now rushing to install at least 55 solar parks this year, sufficient, says, to provide 12 percent of national demand.
