Show of solidarity for Cuba while the country gradually recovers from total blackout

Brasil de Fato

Following the total blackout that left Cuba in the dark since Friday, the Caribbean island has begun to re-establish its electricity system in some areas. Still with some difficulties throughout Monday (21), the west of the country – where its capital, Havana, is located with two million residents – began to recover part of the electricity service.

According to Cuban Minister of Mines and Energy, Vicente de la O Levy, the connection is being made slowly so as not to “violently overload” the system. This is due to a change in strategy authorities implemented after the system collapsed completely over the weekend, following at least two attempts to restore the national system in a unified way.

As a result, authorities have opted to create different independent systems that try to guarantee the stability of the electricity service by region. This task became more difficult with Hurricane Oscar, which hit the eastern part of the country on Sunday (20). 

In the provinces affected by the storm, the hope is that the weather situation will improve so that electricity can be restored, while work is being done to protect the population from the strong winds and floods.

Despite the advancements made, the director general of electricity at the Cuban Ministry of Energy and Mines, Lázaro Guerra, warned that although progress has been made in the national interconnection, this does not guarantee that the effects on the service will be zeroed, as there is a shortfall in generation capacity compared to demand, attributed to fuel shortages.

Show of solidarity

Referring to the critical situation on the Caribbean island, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a press conference on Monday (21) that “the US embargo against Cuba has caused great damage to Cuba’s economic and social development and the lives of its people”.

The spokesman also demanded that the US government end the embargo and remove Cuba from the so-called list of State Sponsors of Terrorism.

Lin said that China and Cuba “are good friends, good comrades and good brothers” and that Beijing “sympathizes with Cuba’s current difficulties”.

“We [China] believe that under the firm leadership of the Communist Party of Cuba, the Cuban people will undoubtedly be able to overcome the temporary difficulties and advance the cause of socialism,” he added.

The Chinese spokesman’s statements were made after the governments of Venezuela, Mexico, Colombia, Russia, and Barbados offered to help Cuba deal with its difficult situation.

In recent months, China has been working with Cuba to install several photovoltaic parks to generate renewable energy.

Fighting the blockade

The Alba Movimientos platform, which brings together more than 400 organizations from 25 countries, issued a statement in which it points to US blockade policies as the main cause of the current crisis in Cuba.

“No one can attribute this virtual collapse of the Cuban electricity system to a specific measure by the US government – that would be too simplistic and does not correspond to reality,” the statement reads. They add that this is “the result of a long strategy of planned destruction of the material and spiritual living conditions of the Cuban population.”

The statement recalls that “the available evidence shows that, with the financial resources denied to Cuba due to the blockade policy, 18 days of accumulated damages equal the annual cost of maintaining the country’s electricity system.”

According to the latest UN estimates, between 2022 and 2023 alone, the blockade generated losses of US$13 million a day for the Cuban state.