This Saturday, October 19, there was a second blackout of the electrical system in Cuba, after small pockets of electricity had been restored throughout the island after the service was cut on Thursday. The Government of Venezuela called on the international community to mobilize in support of the Caribbean country and held the United States responsible.
“At 6:15 am a new total blackout of the national electrical system occurred,” said a publication this Saturday, October 19, on the official Telegram channel of the Electrical Union of Cuba. “The Electrical Union is working to restore it.” Some Cubans complained on social media that their electricity returned briefly before going out again.
The ruler of Cuba Miguel Díaz-Canel informed all Cubans that his priority is the search for a solution to the energy crisis that the island is experiencing.
«From the country’s leadership we are dedicating absolute priority to the attention and solution of this highly sensitive energy contingency for the nation. There will be no rest until its restoration,” and highlighted the Government’s commitment to the critical situation.
Díaz-Canel’s message adds to the information provided by the Ministry of Energy and Mines, which notified the unforeseen departure of the Antonio Guiteras Thermoelectric Power Plant (CTE), one of the main electricity generating centers on the island.
Thursday, October 17, was the darkest day in Cuba in all of 2024. The population began to complain and demand the “resignation” of their leaders on social networks. The Electrical Union confirmed that more than half of Cubans were without service. Without being able to hide under the carpet the darkness in which the island remains, like a black hole in the middle of the Caribbean Sea, its Government recognized the obvious: that the country is going through an “energy emergency situation” that led to the closure of schools in all teaching levels and the suspension of cultural and recreational activities, in order to prioritize hospitals and food processing centers.
This Friday the 18th the situation was precipitated and the Ministry of Energy and Mines reported that at 11 in the morning “the total disconnection of the National Electroenergy System occurred.”
Although disconnections and breakdowns are becoming more frequent in a completely old thermoelectric system without resources for its maintenance, the Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero, highlighted that The lack of fuel is the biggest problem why Cubans are living almost completely in the dark.
In recent times, the country—which is usually not clear enough about the amount of fuel it receives or stops receiving—, has seen a decrease in the arrival of oil that comes from its main trading partners, such as Mexico, Russia or Venezuela, and it is a fact that it does not have foreign currency to import it either. Díaz-Canel has said, as he usually does, that the main cause is “the economic war” and the “financial and energy persecution of the United States” towards Cuba, which “makes it difficult to import fuel and other resources necessary for that industry.” .
Although they did not offer details, the officials assured that the Government had a plan to “maximize Cuban oil production” and plans to increase the use of renewable energy sources. Marrero points out that the solution to the crisis consists of “eliminating dependence on fossil fuels, replacing it with clean energy.” For the moment they have taken “exceptional measures” that paralyze most activities and the normal course of life on the island.
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Government of Venezuela asks for support for Cuba
This Friday the 18th, the Government of Venezuela called on the international community to mobilize in support of Cuba, in view of the national blackout that the island is experiencing, a situation for which Caracas blamed the United States and its policy of economic sanctions. «Venezuela urges the international community, especially the Latin American and Caribbean community, to mobilize in support of Cuba and absolutely condemn the unfortunate unilateral list of countries that supposedly support terrorism, facts that without a doubt are the main cause of the damage. that they suffer today,” he said in a statement.
Venezuela “expresses its absolute solidarity and unconditional support for the sister republic of Cuba, while facing the current energy contingency, a product of the cruel intensification of the economic war and financial and energy persecution by the US Government.” said the Executive.
In his opinion, the “illegal blockade against the Cuban people”, in reference to the sanctions imposed by the United States, seeks “the application of collective punishment, which represents a crime against humanity.”
“Venezuela supports all the heroic efforts made by the people of Cuba as well as its president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, to mitigate the impacts of the criminal unilateral coercive measures,” the letter reiterates. In this sense, the country confirmed that Cuba “has the full support” of the Venezuelan Government to face this situation and overcome it, while calling on other countries to support the island nation at this time.
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