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Cuba's aging power grid has eroded in recent years as it faces a
prolonged economic crisis, recently made worse by a U.S. energy
blockade of the island, where daily life can be an ordeal for
many of the country's 10 million people.
The state-run Electric Union said the collapse had stripped
power from all eastern provinces from Guantánamo to Ciego de
Ávila, and that crews were working to restore power, but it did
not give an estimate for how long it would take.
The previous day, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel had
described the energy situation as “tense” after supplies of oil
delivered by a Russian vessel in late March ran out. Cuba
produces barely 40% of the fuel it needs to power its economy.
Russia announced plans to send a second fuel ship to Cuba in
early April. According to Russian news reports, the oil tanker
left the Russian Baltic port of Vysotsk in January, but has been
stuck in the same place in the Atlantic Ocean for the last
several weeks.
Power outages in Havana, where authorities have been rationing
power, stretched to 24 consecutive hours on Thursday.
On Wednesday evening, Associated Press journalists saw residents
in numerous neighborhoods banging pots and pans and setting fire
to trash cans to protest the blackouts. Hours later, Energy and
Mines Minister Vicente de la O Levy appeared on Cuban television
to describe the energy situation as “critical.”
Cuba’s power grid is crumbling, but the government also has
blamed the outages on U.S. sanctions after President Donald
Trump in January warned of tariffs on any country that sells or
provides oil to Cuba. The Trump administration has demanded that
Cuba release political prisoners and move toward political and
economic liberalization in return for a lifting of sanctions.
The blackouts have led to reduced work hours and food spoilage
as refrigerators stop working. In some cases, hospitals have
canceled surgeries.
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