Cuba: blackout, an intervention that changes the daily life of the islanders [FOTOS]

wave blackouts Newspapers in Cuba are forcing its inhabitants to change their daily lives, balancing between the precariousness of home life, from the kitchen and washing machine to television and air conditioning, and economic losses for private businesses.

“You have to do everything you can when you have electricity. You must go ahead, especially in food preparation. And if I need to use the washing machine, do it before it arrives,” Efe Belkis, a resident of Cardenas (West), describes the clipping.

The city has been experiencing months of blackouts, like other parts of the country, and the problem has escalated in recent weeks.

Currently, Belkis says that in her area they suffer six hours a day without electricity in two sections, 6 to 9 and 1 to 17. But her “worst day,” she explains, is an alternate calendar from which she suffered elsewhere. times, with breaks from 9:00 to 13:00 and from 17:00 to 20:00.

Belkis, who lives with her son and mother, who is under 10, says she lives in a situation of “high complexity” and pities some of her friends who “have to leave everything done” at home before going to work. , which involves doing chores “on the eve or at dawn”. The only alternative he sees is “to make the most of free hours on blackouts”.

energy crisisone of the biggest problems Cuba At this time, he runs the risk of becoming chronic. The first alarms sounded in May, and since then the cuts have not stopped and continue. In July, power outages were recorded on 29 out of 31 days, and a similar behavior follows in August, according to UNE data collated by Efe.

Havanaavoided large cuts in other regions, was included in August in the calendar blackouts programmed after residents of other territories criticized his exclusion. In addition, the capital was also unable to escape from unforeseen power outages (in addition to planned ones). Last Thursday evening most of the 15 municipalities Havana remained in the dark for two hours due to a malfunction at the substation.

“Your business is on the line”

Yanara tells Efa that she feels “fatal” about this new setback for her business. This entrepreneur, who through her initiative and perseverance built a beauty salon in the Havana municipality of Playa, is feeling the damage caused by power outages in her daily life: her clients and employees are “disgusted”.

“Your business is at stake,” says the 42-year-old stylist, who recalls that her establishment has already suffered during the forced closure due to the pandemic. In this new situation, he becomes “depressed” and suffers “psychological damage”.

“In this work, we constantly rely on electricity. From drying hair, straightening to styling, manicures and facials,” she says.

Added to this is that “when you use a chemical product like keratin, you run the risk of losing it if you can’t use iron, and this is a loss against the backdrop of a shortage caused by inflation in the country.” “It scares me,” he says.

He also regrets having to cancel services last Saturday due to an unexpected supply cut. “The announced schedule was not met,” Yanara complains about the situation, which he describes as a “total loss” for the business.

The voices of Belkis and Yanara join the voices of thousands Cubans who complain about the chaos caused in their daily lives blackouts, some over 8 hours in a row and up to 20 in just one day. The Facebook profile of the State Electricity Union of Cuba (UNE) is a series of complaints, where some complain that they cannot sleep without a fan or air conditioner, while others are afraid of losing food due to the lack of a refrigerator or I regret that I cannot use the rice cooker or watch TV.

Hot Summer

Cuban government He explained that the problems with the shortage of electricity are associated with breakdowns of obsolete thermal power plants due to lack of maintenance, spare parts, funds for their replacement and lack of fuel.

The energy crisis that Cuba The situation also worsened after a serious industrial fire occurred in early August in Matanzas.

The power outage not only affects the already battered Cuban economy, but also overwhelms daily life, fueling social unrest.

In recent weeks, there have been protests for this reason – more than thirty, according to independent media – in various cities, mostly small ones, but also in cities such as Santiago de Cuba and Havana.

A year ago, power outages were one of the causes of anti-government demonstrations on July 11, the largest in decades.

Cuba it relies heavily on foreign oil for energy (thermal power plants produce two-thirds of its electricity), and its main supplier, Venezuela, has cut supplies significantly.

The country plunged into a major economic crisis for two years, fueled by the pandemic, tightening US sanctions, rampant inflation and failures in national governance. (EFE)