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Cuba’s communist government faces its toughest challenge since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, as the island, already suffering from severe shortages of food, fuel and medicine, is crippled by days of nationwide power outages. .
The country’s power grid has collapsed four times in the past four days, leaving large parts of the country without power, including the capital Havana. Residents carried buckets of water from reservoirs and wells to their homes and had to wait longer than usual in lines for bread and other necessities.
Small anti-government protests erupted around the island over the weekend, and President Miguel DÃaz-Canel appeared on state television Sunday night in military uniform to warn Cubans not to take part in “vandalism.”
The president, who is rarely seen in uniform, said: “We are not going to condone vandalism by anyone, much less anything that affects the tranquility of our people.”
Schools and all non-essential businesses were closed on Monday as authorities struggled to regain power. By the afternoon, state media said about 89% of Havana’s residents had electricity, with electricity gradually returning to rural areas.
As Cuban authorities struggled to reconnect the country’s aging power grid on Sunday, a Category 1 hurricane slammed into the island’s east, pummeling the region with heavy rain and strong winds.
The energy crisis comes at a dangerous time for Cuba. Cuba has struggled to provide its people with essential necessities such as food, water and garbage collection, and has been hit by weak tourism demand and tough U.S. sanctions.
“The Cuban government and Communist Party are facing their worst economic and political crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union,” said Bill Leogrande, a Cuba expert at American University in Washington. “The government is bankrupt and doesn’t have the money to import enough food and fuel.”
Cubans are used to power outages, but the problem is becoming increasingly serious, with four-hour power outages common in Havana but often lasting more than 12 hours a day in rural areas.
Prime Minister Manuel Marrero said in an address to the nation last week that the country can no longer afford to buy enough fuel on the international market to generate the electricity it needs.
Supplies from Cuba’s international allies cannot make up for the shortfall. Venezuela has significantly cut back on crude oil shipments to Cuba in recent years, and Russia has increased oil shipments, but not enough to power Cuba. China is installing solar panels on the island, but this is a long-term project.
Meanwhile, the government has failed to maintain Soviet-era power plants and has not fully implemented promised market-oriented reforms that would help transition to a more open economy.
The US embargo has also caused fuel shortages. The Biden administration has kept in place Trump-era “maximum pressure” sanctions, which economists say are blocking billions of dollars a year from flowing into the national treasury. are.
The tightening of the U.S. embargo has robbed the Cuban state of “the ability to do a lot of things, including importing spare parts and fuel for power generation,” said Fulton Armstrong, a former national intelligence officer for Latin America. .
Analysts say to ensure a more sustainable electricity supply, Cuba needs to replace Soviet-era power plants, most of which are nearly half a century old.
“The solution is fundamental reform and outside investment,” said Ricardo Torres, a research fellow at American University’s Center for Latin American and Latin American Studies.
