AREQUIPA, Peru – The Cuban regime suspended activities and classes this Sunday for the next three days due to the worsening of the energy crisis and the impact of Hurricane Oscar in the eastern part of the Island.
The news emerged in an official Government note, published by the state media Cubadebate.
“Given the imminent passage of Hurricane Oscar through our country and the recovery period following it, as well as the work being undertaken to restore the national electrical system, it has been decided to suspend non-essential administrative activities and teaching activities, on the days Monday, October 21, Tuesday, October 22, and Wednesday, October 23, and maintain vital services for the population,” the notice states.
Likewise, the text points out that workers mobilized under these circumstances receive payment of their average salary and those who, due to said suspension, do not attend work, receive payment of a salary guarantee equivalent to the scale salary of the position they occupy.
Last Friday, the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MINEM) reported on the social network
In this way, the entity confirmed the complaints on social networks that indicated a nationwide blackout that affected the Cubans throughout the day and night. The event has been reported in national and international media.
More than 48 hours later, most of the country remains in electrical service while the regime assures that it is working on its restoration. The discontent of the population was evident during the night of this Saturday in the form of multiple banging of pots and pans and peaceful protests, mainly in the provinces of Santiago de Cuba and Havana.
For its part, Hurricane Oscar is approaching the country at a rate of 19 kilometers per hour. According to information from the Forecast Center of the Institute of Meteorology (INSMET), the cyclone continues its movement between the west and west-southwest, which indicates that it could be making landfall during the afternoon-night of this October 20 at north coast in the vicinity of the provinces of Guantánamo and Holguín.
Weather conditions will begin to deteriorate in the eastern region from this morning, gradually increasing the areas of showers, rains and thunderstorms, which may be strong and locally intense in some localities and in mountainous areas.
On the northern eastern coast, strong swells will begin at noon today, mainly to the north of the provinces of Guantánamo, Holguín and Las Tunas, as well as moderate coastal flooding in low areas of this coastline, including the Baracoa seawall.
During this morning Hurricane Oscar has had slight fluctuations in its intensity. Its maximum sustained winds are 130 kilometers per hour, with higher gusts, so it continues to be a category one hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
“Its minimum pressure is 988 hectopascal and it has moved in a direction close to the west, with a speed of 19 kilometers per hour,” detailed INSMET.
