RESTLESS NIGHT
There have been seven nationwide blackouts since 2024, making life more difficult for Cubans who fear food will spoil in refrigerators, among other problems in a country in economic crisis.
“The truth is, it gets harder every day to live with this situation,” Alina Quinones, a 48-year-old nurse, told AFP as she headed to the Havana hospital where she works, after barely sleeping.
She had no power, internet or phone connection, making it impossible to reach relatives in Matanzas, a city east of the capital.
Francisco Gonzalez, a 79-year-old retiree, also said he had a sleepless night in the dark, “sitting in an armchair at home, waiting for the power to come back on”.
Regular outages, as well as persistent shortages of food, medicine and other basics, are fueling public frustration, with people banging pots at night as a form of protest.
In a rare moment of violence, demonstrators vandalised a provincial office of the Cuban Communist Party last weekend.
The breakdowns have intensified since Cuba’s main regional ally and oil supplier, Venezuela’s socialist leader Nicolas Maduro, was captured in a US military operation in January.
Trump subsequently threatened to impose tariffs on countries that sell oil to Cuba.
No oil has arrived since Jan 9, hitting the power sector, while public transport has dwindled and airlines have curtailed flights to the island, a blow to its all-important tourism business.
Discover more from PressNewsAgency
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.