Things are changing in Cuba and not only in the capital. The residents of Bayamo, in modest Granma, are no longer silent in the face of blackouts and openly challenge the authorities.
Last Tuesday, a group of people gathered at the Altarpiece of the Heroes, next to the monument that marks the place where the first open-air cemetery was in America, and cried out against the long power outages.
Two people passed a state company on a motorcycle and one of them, megaphone in hand, shouted: “Díaz-Canel, singao!” before the look of a group of people who burst into laughter. A colonel from the Ministry of the Interior, who was present, demanded that the witnesses confront the two rebelsbut only managed to increase the laughter.
On Monday night, in the Bayamese neighborhood of Camilo Cienfuegos, a group of people made fun of the patrolmen who patrolled the streets “Long live Díaz-Canel”, “Long live the Revolution”, ironically about those responsible for the energy situation. A few hours before there had been another protest with saucepans in Mabay, a rural area of Bayamo, where cries were heard “the people united will never be defeated”.
The discomfort is growing in a population that exceeds 10 and 14 hours of power outages, scheduled in two and three cycles of blackouts each day this summer. The posters with slogans and messages against the Government and the president are evident even in broad daylight and when, with great difficulty, they have been able to cover them with a couple of brush strokes.
A colonel from the Ministry of the Interior, who was present, demanded that the witnesses confront the two rebels, but only increased the laughter.
The explanations of the Electric Union are no longer of any use to the population, who do not understand why they must endure so many hours without electricity. “But Felton generates for Granma?”, responded a resident of the province when the newspaper The Demajagua announced more cuts due to the output of the thermoelectric plant, which contributes 500 MW to the system, but has two units in constant failure. “And don’t tell me that it’s a national system because, if it were like that, Havanans would also have 14 hours of blackout a day. And my congratulations to them who have earned that respect.”
For this Thursday, the Electric Union has announced a deficit of 618 MW. The demand will be around 2,900 MW at the maximum and the availability is barely 2,352 MW.
The Mariel thermoelectric plant has three faulty units, which adds to the two of Felton, the 4 of Nuevitas, the 6 of Renté and the only one of Otto Parellada. In addition, there is another unit under maintenance in Cienfuegos and, due to a problem in the Energas Varadero steam turbine, more MW are added outside of generation.
Finally, we must add the problems of distributed generation, where 1,115 MW are missing due to breakdowns and almost 500 MW due to maintenance.
“The truth is that they have tremendous relaxation, every day they read the same story, only the numbers and the thermoelectric plants change,” a user responded to the UNE statement. Meanwhile, others continue to insist on taking the drama with humor: “Is Felton’s thermoelectric plant welded with plasticine?”
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