Cuba Begins To Restore Power After Nationwide Grid Collapse

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba began repairing its energy system Sunday, a day after a crisis. nationwide collapse The entire network has left millions of people in the dark for the third time this month.

Power was restored early Sunday to about 72,000 customers in the capital, including five hospitals, but that is only a fraction of Havana’s total population of about 2 million, according to a report by the state-run Electricity Association and the Ministry of Energy and Mines.

In Havana and in provinces such as western Matanzas and eastern Holguin, local power microsystems were established to supply the most vital centers. Residents in some parts of the capital told The Associated Press that power was restored in the early morning hours.

Cuba is currently facing an unprecedented energy crisis. Its aging grid has been greatly eroded in recent years, but the government has also blamed the outages on a US energy blockade. President Donald Trump warned in January Customs duties imposed on any country that sells or supplies oil to Cuba. His administration demands that Cuba release political prisoners and move toward political and economic liberalization in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. Trump also raised the possibility of a “friendly takeover of Cuba.”

Another reason why Cuba is struggling with dwindling oil is the United States’ dismissal of the former president of Venezuela. Nicolas MaduroIt halted critical oil shipments from the country, a staunch ally of Havana.

President Miguel Díaz-Canel said the island has not received oil from foreign suppliers for three months. Cuba produces only 40% of the fuel it needs to fuel its economy.

Daily power outages have a significant impact on the population, whose lives are disrupted by reduced working hours, lack of electricity for cooking and damage to household appliances, among many other consequences.

“My refrigerator broke down due to a power outage and low voltage. It was today. The day before yesterday, the voltage dropped to around 10 at night,” Suleydi Crespo, 33, who has two young children, told the AP on Saturday. “If there is no electricity tomorrow, we cannot reach water.”

Neighborhood residents also stated that they were tired due to the continuous or partial outages across the country.

The Cuban Electricity Association, reporting to the Ministry of Energy and Mines, reported that the complete disconnection in the national energy system was caused by the unexpected shutdown of a generating unit at the Nuevitas thermoelectric plant in the province of Camaguey, without providing detailed information about the specific cause of the failure.

nationwide latest There was a power outage on Monday. It took several days for power to be restored.

Saturday’s outage was the second outage of last week and the third of March.

“We have to get used to going about our usual routine. What else can we do? We have to try to survive. We have to get used to things with or without electricity,” said 35-year-old salesman Dagnay Alarcón.

Officials and Díaz-Canel himself have acknowledged the seriousness of the current energy situation. Deputy Minister of Energy and Mines Argelio Abad Vigo announced this week that the country has gone three months without a supply of diesel, fuel oil, gasoline, aviation fuel or liquefied petroleum gas; All of these are vital to the economy and energy production.

Fuel sales for vehicles have been rationalized, airlines have suspended flights or reduced frequencies, and many workplaces have reduced working hours.

Trump has been suggesting for months that the Cuban government was on the verge of collapse. Earlier, after Cuba’s power grid collapsed, Trump told reporters that he believed he would soon have “the honor of taking Cuba.”

María Regla Cardoso, a housewife in Havana, said she was not interested in politics and that Cubans should continue to live.

“I leave everything in God’s hands. Whatever the situation, we have to face it.”

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