Cuba’s government hopes to have ended or at least minimized “by the end of the year” the power outages that plague the island’s population daily, President Miguel Diaz-Canel said Sunday during a visit to a power plant in Santiago de Kumba (east).
Since May, the country has been facing supply difficulties and power outages are a daily occurrence.
“Before the end of the year, we should (…) have ended the blackouts or reduced them,” said Mr Dias-Canel, who has visited several thermal power plants in the eastern part of the country, which are the current interval under repair.
The Cuban president promised to seek funds to maintain power plants and promote the use of renewable energy sources, according to public television.
Constant power outages caused desperation among the population this summer, and many residents did not hesitate to take to the streets to protest.
Such demonstrations of discontent are very rare in Cuba, even more so after the demonstrations of July 11 and 12, 2021, when thousands of Cubans took to the streets shouting slogans such as “we are hungry” or “freedom”.
Nearly 500 people out of the 700 who faced criminal charges have already been convicted for their involvement in the protests, some even serving 25 years in prison, according to the Miami-based NGO Cubalex.
According to the national public electricity company UNE (Unión Eléctrica de Cuba), 95% of energy production in Cuba is ensured by burning fossil fuels, mostly imported. The rise in world prices increased these imports by 30%.
At the same time, of Cuba’s 20 power plants, 19 have been operating for more than 35 years, the government acknowledges, which, due to maintenance work and repeated breakdowns, has little room for maneuver.
Partly due to the new coronavirus pandemic which has paralyzed the vital tourism sector in particular, the island is experiencing the most serious economic crisis in the last thirty years, facing increasing shortages of food, medicine and fuel.
SOURCE: AMPE
Source: Capital
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