Are Routine Power Cuts Back in Cuba?

Are Routine Power Cuts Back in Cuba?
August 6, 2014
Yenisel Rodríguez Perez

HAVANA TIMES – Power cuts that aren't caused by maintenance or repair
work are taking place in certain areas of the Cuban capital. The
regularity and persistence of these blackouts (which have been occurring
from one to two years now) makes one suspect the country continues to
face problems in terms of energy availability.

The policy of misinformation vis-à-vis internal developments constantly
applied by the Cuban government and its institutions prompts speculation
and intensifies the distress of the inhabitants of the affected areas.

The most severely affected areas are those that enjoy a permanent gas
supply service, something which supports the thesis that these power
cuts are planned and not accidental or circumstantial. In many
neighborhoods around Havana, electric stoves are used to cook, and this
"protects" that population from such power cuts.

Cubans who are over 14 or 15 lived through an infernal period of power
cuts that lasted from 12 to 24 hours and took place several times a week
in the 1990s. In the summer months, people slept on the roofs of their
houses, on terraces and even on the sidewalk.

No one wants to go back to those times and the government knows this
well, which is why they have declared that energy is a national security
issue. But mismanagement, corruption and geopolitical demagogy keep the
risk of economic crisis and social catastrophes alive.

It seems the pressure cooker is beginning to break down as a result of
energy shortages. For the time being, those responsible remain quiet and
hope that the depoliticized nature of Cuban society and the lack of
popular power will allow them to take the situation to its final
consequences.

Source: Are Routine Power Cuts Back in Cuba? - Havana Times.org -
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=105367