The discomfort of the population grows by the hour in Cuba and begins to overflow what is usual in the face of a catastrophe of these characteristics such as Hurricane Ian. The regime admits that there is no capacity to resolve the situation immediately
Cuba is experiencing a situation of serious social tension, with more and more protests and casseroles in the streets due to the lack of electricity in many homes in the country after the passage of Hurricane Ian. Although the electricity service has slowly begun to be restored in some neighborhoods of the capital and areas of the center and east of the island, in many places Cubans were still in blackout this Saturday, October 1, and it will be five days after the impact of the cyclone, which means that many people do not have running water service either.
The unease of the population grows by the hour and begins to overflow what is usual in the face of a catastrophe of these characteristics, with increasing questioning of the Government, which has admitted that there is no capacity to resolve the situation immediately, although it is working piecemeal. .
“We can’t take it anymore, we can’t go on like this, this has to change,” was the comment of Manuel, a resident of one of the Havana neighborhoods that is still in the dark, where on Thursday night there were protests and cacerolazos. The protests in various neighborhoods of Havana continued on the night of Friday, September 30, always in places where the electricity supply had not been restored, he noted. The country.
On Calle 60, in the Playa municipality, a crowd took to the streets and cut off traffic as night fell. In a short time the place was surrounded by the police and numerous special troops despite the fact that there was no violence at any time and the people only asked that they put on the light. The authorities later organized an act of repudiation, with young people brought from other places in buses, who shouted against the demonstrators chanting slogans in favor of the Government, until the people left the place, reported the Spanish newspaper.
The same thing happened in other parts of Havana, and for the second consecutive day the internet was blocked in almost the entire country for hours coinciding with the moment in which the incidents took place.
The first secretary of the Communist Party in the capital, Luis Antonio Torres, admitted that there have been demonstrations in recent hours and that they were legitimate.
«We had to face isolated situations where there were popular complaints about the situation of water, electricity and the loss of food due to lack of electricity. We consider these claims fair. said the official, who nevertheless considered that “protesting is a right, but a right when those responsible for the State and the Government are failing to do what is their responsibility.”
In his opinion, this is not the case, and for this reason he affirmed that the protests that have taken place, “instead of helping, stop the fulfillment” of the “mission” at the moment, which is to achieve “in the shortest possible time have full recovery.
Precisely, how the authorities have handled an emergency situation caused by the passage of Hurricane Ian, which has devastated part of the province of Pinar del Río and severely affected other western regions such as Artemisa, Mayabeque and Havana, leaving three dead, millionaire losses and collapsing the national electric power system, is now the focus of numerous criticisms, both on the street and on social networks.
Either because the serious situation has overwhelmed them, or because they have not handled it well, or because structural deficiencies and neglect over the years have led to this disaster, many criticize the Government on the grounds that in previous years they have gone through the island had much worse cyclones than Ian, and it had never been as dire as it is now.
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Even official media like Cubadebate They have published voices of Internet users who crudely put their finger on the problem, something unprecedented on the island. “Unfortunate state of the SEN [Sistema electroenergético nacional]! Every day worse! This event produced by Ian has complicated the issue and to my non-expert eye: we were not prepared to recover from a Generation Zero”, wrote a Cuban, which alluded to the general collapse that occurred on Tuesday, when the entire country was left without electricity.
Another asked in this same official medium: “Please give information on how things are going. Here in the central provinces it is not known what there is, the little to eat that is going to be lost, put some information to know at least what to expect.
And a third went further and addressed the Cuban president directly, with names and surnames, and in capital letters: “Not only is there no socialism without electricity. There is also no revolution. Electricity cannot be stored or imported. You have to create it.”
If that’s how people spoke in the official media and they published it, on the street and on social networks the level of criticism went much further. People talk shit. “Let them be put aside, it is a disaster of Government, that Instead of investing in electricity, they have irresponsibly built hotels and hotels. Long live Fidel, down with the incapable and corrupt bureaucracy,” assured Pedro, one of the Havanans who lives in one of the neighborhoods where the light has not yet returned.
On Saturday, the light had not yet arrived in areas of the capital, which could cause new protests.
The authorities admit that there are many breakdowns and that the situation will take time to normalize, and that within the abnormality that the electricity supply in Cuba represents today, where in many provinces the blackouts are up to 12 hours a day and more for months. . The press reported that ten planes have arrived or will arrive from Mexico with emergency aid to face the crisis, and also experts who collaborate in the restoration of the electrical service. It is a critical and unprecedented moment, and everyone seems to be very aware of it.
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