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 went to Cuba last year, it’s pretty messed up there. The currency is a mess. Doctors make $35 per month. Cab drivers that carry tourists make more than $20 for a trip to the airport. There’s a huge black market for currency there since the government keeps coming up with crazy monetary schemes which obviously don’t work.
The government buildings are pristine, nicer than those you’d see in any developed country, but the people live in poverty.
It’s a last days of the Soviet Union kind of thing happening there. Their system is broken, the country could collapse any day.