Cuba Just Had a Massive Blackout — And People Are Blaming the Island’s Failing Power System
Cuba is grappling with its fifth blackout on the island in less than a year. The entire country is without power after a significant power grid failure. The antiquated power system on the Caribbean island has become unreliable for the people who depend on it. After repeated failures in the recent past, the latest blackout is nationwide and is leaving Cubans frustrated with the current government.
Cuba is in the middle of its fifth major blackout in less than a year
Cubans are currently experiencing a nationwide blackout that has plunged its more than 10 million citizens into darkness. According to The Guardian, the country’s electrical power grid suffered a severe failure and it is in “near-total disarray.” It is being reported that the power grid experienced a total disconnection.
Citizens are expressing their concern in the face of another crisis on top of their daily struggles. Cubans in Havana are anxiously waiting for the power to get turned on, but the government hasn’t signaled how long the blackout will last. A lack of refrigeration and water is compounding the already difficult living situations some Cubans are facing.
“This country can’t take much more. We just have one misfortune after another,” an anonymous small business owner told NBC News. “Let’s see how long it lasts and how it will affect us.”
Part of the issue with the power grid comes from the country’s reliance on oil-fired power plants. Oil supplies have started to run short as shipments of oil from Venezuela, Russia, and Mexico have declined. The old system has been straining for years with periodic blackouts. However, recent months show that the system is deteriorating rapidly with more frequent, widespread, and longer lasting blackouts.
Cubans are familiar, and frustrated, with regular blackouts
According to CNN, the power grid in Cuba is becoming increasingly unreliable and affecting the lives of citizens daily. The island suffers from daily blackouts, particularly around peak hours for energy consumption. Often, up to 40 percent of Cuban citizens experience daily apagones.
“They affect everyone; it’s difficult to stay connected. I always have to be connected; if not, I lose clients,” Lázaro Hernández, a 38-year-old photographer who works with tourists in Havana, told CNN World. “There are programs that tell you the schedule for the outages; you use that as a guide to know when it will happen and organize yourself.”
Even tourists have come to know that Cuba’s electricity is inconsistent, at best. The strain on the already strained system is made worse when tourists realize how it will impact their trip. While they might be able to get a generator for their room, the blackouts also regularly force restaurants and bars to close. This leaves the tourists with a sour experience and could have a long-term impact on Cuba’s tourism industry.
