Almost all of Cuba It remained more than 24 hours without electrical service after the national electrical system collapsed on Friday morning. According to authorities, the shutdown of the Antonio Guiteras Thermoelectric plant, one of the largest in the country, caused the collapse and the causes were being investigated. Lázaro Guerra, director of electricity at the Ministry of Energy and Mines, assured on Friday that they were reviewing each of the thermoelectric units for their restoration. Likewise, he stated that there was no defined time for total rehabilitation.
The electricity outages on the island have been prolonged for several months, with the exception of the capital, Havana. In some locations, the service extends only for two or up to six hours a day.
In Havana there are currently areas that have been without electricity since Friday morning, some had service for about three hours thanks to the generator sets, but then they were disconnected again.
From Santa Clara, a citizen notified ABC that in some areas they turned on the power for just an hour with generator sets, “the rest of the city has remained off; “People are distressed because the little food they have is already spoiling.” The internet service is also intermittent, accessible only for messaging applications such as WhatsApp or Telegram.
In several provinces such as Villa Clara, Santiago de Cuba and Havana, people reported strong militarization in the streets in response to possible popular protests, as has happened on previous occasions in the face of this type of eventuality.
Lack of fuel
The general blackout occurs a few hours after the Cuban president, Miguel Diaz-Canelstated in the United Nations that the Cuban electrical system is “strengthened.” It also happens after an emergency appearance on national television by the Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero, together with the director of CUPET (fuel distribution company) and the National Electrical Union (UNE). The officials recognized the seriousness of the situation, but guaranteed improvement and asked for confidence in their work efforts.
Likewise, they reported that among the factors that were most affecting the energy emergency were the lack of fuel and breakdowns in thermoelectric plants. Felton and Guiteras, the most affected and oldest thermoelectric plants, require constant maintenance. Marrero also explained that, as a savings strategy, they had paralyzed several non-essential state economic activities, and the measure would have to be extended to private sectors.
#total #blackout #Cuba #distresses #citizens #food #spoils
