Havana– Cuba began restoring its energy system on Sunday, a day after nationwide collapse For the third time this month, millions of people were left in the dark due to the failure of the entire grid.
About 72,000 customers in the capital, including five hospitals, had power back on Sunday morning, according to a report by the government electric union and the Ministry of Energy and Mines, but that is only a fraction of Havana’s total population of about 2 million.
In Havana and provinces such as western Matanzas and eastern Holguín, local electricity microsystems were established to supply the most important centers. Residents in some areas of the capital told The Associated Press that power returned in the early morning.
Cuba is currently facing an unprecedented energy crisis. Its aging grid has suffered severe degradation in recent years, but the government has also blamed the US energy blockade for this. President Donald Trump warned in January Imposing tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to Cuba. His administration is demanding that Cuba release political prisoners and move toward political and economic liberalization in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. Trump has also raised the possibility of a “friendly takeover of Cuba.”
Another reason Cuba is struggling with dwindling oil is the US removal of former Venezuelan President Nicolas MaduroWhich blocked vital petroleum shipments from a nation that was a staunch ally of Havana.
President Miguel Diaz-Canel has said that the island has not received oil from foreign suppliers for three months. Cuba produces barely 40% of the fuel needed to power its economy.
Daily blackouts have a significant impact on the population, whose lives are disrupted with many other consequences, including reduced working hours, lack of electricity for cooking, and damage to household appliances.
“Because of the blackout and the low voltage, my refrigerator broke — that was today. The day before yesterday also the voltage went down around 10 o’clock at night,” Suledi Crespo, a 33-year-old woman with two young children, told the AP on Saturday. “If there is no electricity tomorrow, we will not be able to get water.”
Residents also expressed exhaustion with frequent power outages, whether nationwide or partial.
The Cuban Electric Union, which reports to the Ministry of Energy and Mines, reported that the complete disconnection of the national energy system was caused by the unexpected shutdown of a generation unit at the Nuevitas thermoelectric plant in Camagüey province, without giving details on the specific cause of the failure.
nationwide final There was a blackout on Monday. It took several days to restore power.
Saturday’s cut was the second in the past week and the third in March.
“We have to get used to continuing our normal routine. What else can we do? We have to try to survive. Get used to events, with or without electricity,” said 35-year-old vendor Dagney Alarcon.
Officials and Diaz-Canel himself have acknowledged the seriousness of the current energy situation. Deputy Minister of Energy and Mines Argelio Abad Vigo reported this week that the country had gone three months without receiving supplies of diesel, fuel oil, gasoline, aviation fuel or liquefied petroleum gas – all of which are vital to the economy and power generation.
Sales of fuel for vehicles have been controlled, airlines have suspended flights or reduced frequencies, many workplaces have reduced working hours.
Trump had suggested for months that Cuba’s government was on the verge of collapse. Last fall, after Cuba’s electric grid collapsed, Trump told reporters that he believed he would soon have “the honor of taking over Cuba.”
María Regla Cardoso, a Havana housewife, said she was not interested in politics and that Cubans had to survive.
“I leave everything in God’s hands. Whatever the situation, we have to face it.”
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