Holguin/On a random street in Holguín, where the shade of the trees is little relief, a small improvised counter holds the new thermometer of the Cuban energy crisis: several bundles of charcoal lined up as if they were daily bread. There are no bulky bags or black piles filling the air with dust; only bags filled “by eye”, ready to change hands for 250 pesos each. Nearby, a parked electric motorcycle seems to recall what were times of greater hope: days when the current lasted longer than a full charge.
In Holguín, where many neighborhoods currently barely have six hours of electricity per day, coal has become more than a resource: it is a routine, an emergency and, for some, the only way to keep the kitchen lit. People depend on those brief portions of the only fuel available to them.
“People buy them because to pay for a bag you need another level of resources. This, at least, solves today’s cooking”
“They don’t weigh the crates or anything, they fill them as much as they can fit and sell them that way,” explains Caridad, a 71-year-old Holguín native. The woman speaks without surprise, as if she has already normalized an economy in which each product can skyrocket its price at any moment. “People buy them because to pay for a bag you need another level of resources. This, at least, solves today’s cooking.”
The large bags, which were previously the traditional reference for those who cooked with a charcoal stove, now cost more than 1,700 pesos, an impossible luxury for most Holguin homes. Jabas, for their part, contain just three or four pounds, just enough for lunch or a day’s meal. Minimal use for a daily need.
“If you don’t buy today, tomorrow who knows,” says Caridad while carrying one of the bags in her hands. In his voice there is a practical resignation, without drama, as if charcoal in a bag were another of the natural adaptations that Cubans do not allow themselves to question too much. The woman returns home with the valuable cargo, which will allow her, at least for a few hours, to keep the kitchen from turning off completely.
