The light goes out, tensions rise
Havana woke up to darkness again this Tuesday. It is the third national blackout in four months, a brutal blow that reveals how fragile everything is. Hospitals, homes, entire streets without power. Eleven million people waiting for it to return, knowing that it could fail again at any moment.
The Cuban electrical grid is a patient in critical condition. Years of deterioration have made daily outages normal, and now massive blackouts are the new nightmare. The government directly blames the US energy blockade. But the story is more complex.
“It has an economy that does not work in a political and governmental system. They cannot fix it,” said Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State, when asked about Cuba.
“So they have to change drastically,” he added. “What they announced yesterday is not dramatic enough. It’s not going to fix it.”
Rubio’s words came after some explosive statements by Donald Trump. On Monday, with the island still plunged into darkness, the former president claimed to have the “honor of taking Cuba.”
“I mean, whether you release it, whether you take it. I think you could do anything you want with it,” Trump said, describing Cuba as a “very weakened nation.”
Between sanctions and despair
Washington’s demand is clear: release political prisoners and move towards reforms in exchange for lifting sanctions. Meanwhile, the vital flow of oil from Venezuela – another country under US pressure – dried up following actions against Nicolás Maduro.
Cuba produces 40% of its own crude oil and generates electricity, but it is not enough. Demand far outstrips wounded productive capacity and a crumbling network.
The Ministry of Energy reported a “complete disconnection” of the system. Lázaro Guerra, electrical director, explained to state media that teams are working to restart key thermoelectric plants.
By Monday night, only 5% of Havana residents had power restored. Some 42,000 customers in a city of millions.
Life becomes more difficult every day without stable energy. Dalba Obiedo, 48, experienced it firsthand.
“There is a relaxation with the light that I can’t,” he commented. “Look, last night I fell down a 27-step staircase. Now I have to have jaw surgery. I fell because there was no light.”
Food spoilage is a constant concern. Frustration grows and mixes with fear.
Tomás David Velázquez Felipe, a 61-year-old Havana resident, says it bluntly: the incessant blackouts make him think that whoever can should leave.
“The current? That’s abusive; they’ve already gone too far,” he says. “What’s going to happen? They’ll put us without electricity for three days, and the little we have to eat will spoil and no one will answer anything.”
While crews try to restore electricity neighborhood by neighborhood—Pinar del Río and Holguín report progress—the feeling in the streets is different: deep uncertainty in the face of a crisis that gives no respite and an increasingly tense geopolitical scenario.
