More than 70% of Cuba’s population had power again after four days of total blackout, in a context of emergency worsened by the passage of the hurricane Oscarwhich left at least seven people dead and serious material damage, according to a new report.
Cuba has experienced an exceptional situation in recent days with the collapse of the national electrical system, following a failure in the country’s most important thermoelectric plant, and the arrival of hurricane Oscar, category one, which hit the extreme east of the island.
The president Miguel Diaz-Canel reported on his account on the social network
“We were informed of the loss of another person in Imías”, a nearby location that is still difficult to access.
Oscar, which was downgraded hours later to a tropical storm, caused severe material damage in that province before leaving Cuba on Monday night.
The president said his government will act “as soon as it is possible to begin the recovery phase” in the disaster area, where unprecedented levels of flooding have occurred.
Oscar’s winds destroyed roofs and entire houses in the city of Baracoa, almost a thousand kilometers from Havana, where poles and trees also fell across the boardwalk, according to Cuban television.
Meanwhile, the recovery of electrical service on the island is progressing. “This morning, 70.89% of customers in Cuba have electrical service,” said the Ministry of Mines and Energy in its account on X, in which it added that “the expansion of electrical coverage in the country” continues to occur.
The entity reported that Guantánamo and Santiago de Cuba are the provinces with the “least availability” of energy so far. In the west of the island, coverage reached 95%, while throughout the center of the country it reached between 40% and 60%.
Cooking ‘with firewood’
In Las Tunas (east), where service was almost completely restored, a housewife told AFP, on condition of anonymity, that she had to cook “with wood” in recent days.
Authorities made major efforts over the weekend to restore the national electricity system, which has collapsed on several occasions. Impatient, the population went out to protest in isolated groups in several neighborhoods of Havana.
President Miguel Díaz-Canel warned on Sunday that he would not tolerate “public order disturbances” or acts of vandalism.
Those who participate “will be prosecuted according to the rigor contemplated by revolutionary laws,” the uniformed military leader said during a meeting of the National Defense Council, broadcast on state television.
The lack of electricity was one of the triggers for the historic demonstrations of July 11, 2021 and its aftermath in the almost three years that followed.
“We have registered at least 28 protests in the country in the last few days since the national electrical system collapsed on October 18,” said Justicia J11, a human rights NGO, on X.
Cubans’ lives were disrupted by the fact that, in many cases, water and gas services were also interrupted, while telephone communications and weekend transport were almost non-existent.
Relief
People were relieved that the service was back: “How can you not be happy about this, son? It’s about time, I’ve been sleeping badly for days, without a fan,” Magalis Manzano, 81, told AFP, as she swept and cleaned the street with an energy that belied her age.
“Now they won’t take it all away again. That’s what I ask God for”, he adds.
“Of course I’m happy, for me it makes a lot of difference that the power and everything is restored because I have an elderly mother of 85 years and an autistic son,” said Olga Gómez, 59, who lives in the old part of the city.
On Sunday, authorities promised to bring electricity to the majority of the population on Monday night and to the “last customer” by this Tuesday.
In Cuba, electricity is generated by eight fuel-dependent thermoelectric plants, some damaged and others undergoing maintenance. In addition to these, there are floating power plants – which the government rents from Turkish companies – and generator sets.
With shortages of food and medicine, galloping inflation and chronic blackouts that limit the development of productive activities, Cuba is facing its worst economic crisis in three decades.
