Cuba’s biggest blackout in at least two years left millions without power and prompted the government to announce emergency measures
Millions of Cubans were plunged into total darkness as they faced a country-wide blackout after a power plant failed, causing the nation’s electrical grid to disconnect.
Government officials, who had warned about ongoing blackouts in recent days, implemented emergency measures such as suspending classes, shutting down some state-owned workplaces and canceling non-essential services
Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz said in an address on Thursday evening that the government had been “paralyzing” the economy in recent weeks in an attempt to continue providing electricity to citizens.
For weeks, Cuba has suffered a fuel shortage which has impacted the ability to run the power grid. Parts of the country have had no power for 12 hours a day. When power is turned on, demand increases putting a strain on the weak infrastructure.
That is, in part, due to an economic crisis and weather-related problems which have made imports difficult to obtain.
I guess the years they were under embargoes and unable to import means its their own fault they didn’t spend those years diversifying their electrical grid into solar and wind?
The point is they would be a lot farther along with such efforts if they hadn’t been prevented from trading with half the world for half a century.
But sure, because they haven’t spun up modern infrastructure when they can’t trade with half the world is their fault, and not because they have limited means and places from which to get the material and tools for such infrastructure.
The Castro’s fault? Absolutely.
My solar panels came from China, theirs can too. Cuba doesn’t have a single West German engineered power plant, those parts don’t come from modern Germany.
Embargoes (and especially the terrorist definition) are a big stumbling block but don’t act like corruption and terrible mismanagement aren’t the bulk of modern Cuba’s problems.
Then why are the sanctions still in place? If the US stopped pirating maybe we would be able to tell bow shitty the government is. But all anyone can see here is a cruel government getting off oppressing smaller nations. It’s not even about political blackmail, given how Puerto Rico and Hawaii are treated, only gratuitous violence.
I disagree with the sanctions. Hell, we trade with worse regimes every day. Lifting the sanctions would help the residents of Cuba immensely. The “sticking point” of the nationalized property back in '59 should be moot. It’s not about making property owners whole at this point, it’s about helping the people of Cuba. That is non-negotiable for the expats though.