Cubans remain the third day without electricity after failed repair attempts

The Cuban electricity union reported that about 16% of the country were again supplied with electricity when the outdated energy network was overloaded again late Saturday evening. Official information about when the electricity can be brought back completely.

Extensive effects of the nationwide power failures

This has already been the third complete collapse of the Cuban Energy Act since Friday, and most of the 10 million inhabitants of the country have had no electricity since then. The efforts to restore the energy supply are also made more difficult by the arrival of Hurricane Oscar in East Cuba, which is supposed to bring heavy winds and high waves.

The first nationwide power failures

The power failures threaten to plunge the communist country into a deeper crisis. The water supply and the freshness of food are dependent on a reliable energy supply. Many people used WhatsApp to exchange information about which areas still had electricity, while others tried to store medication in the refrigerators of people who had a brief electricity - or were lucky to have a generator.

Life in Havana under the power failures

in Havana, the residents waited hours to buy some loafs in the few places that sold bread. When the bread was sold out, discussions escalated about who was overlooked in the queue. Many wondered where the traditional allies Cuba, such as Venezuela, Russia and Mexico, remained that the island had previously delivered urgently needed oil tankers to keep the lights going.

tourism and the condition of the infrastructure

Despite the blackouts, there were still tourists to be seen in classic cars from the 1950s, even if many hotel generators had no fuel. A foreign visitor reported CNN that José Martí International Airport in Havana was only operated via emergency electricity, which did not work by ticket printer and the air conditioning system failed in the terminal.

causes of the energy crisis

Cuban officials blamed the energy crisis for a combination of various factors, including tightened US economic sanctions, disorders from youngest hurricanes and the dilapidated state of the infrastructure of the island. In a television speech on Thursday, which was delayed due to technical problems, Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz said that a large part of the limited production was discontinued to avoid that the population is completely without electricity. "We paralyze economic activities to create (electricity) for the population," he said.

health care and protests

The country's health minister, José Angel Portal Miranda, announced on Friday on X that the island's health facilities rely on generators and that health workers continue to offer vital services. According to reports, two smaller protests were observed from Saturday to Sunday, while in the social media, videos of protests circulated in other parts of the capital.

The situation remains tense and the population hopes for an early improvement in the power supply.