(4 Dec 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Havana, Cuba – 4 December 2024
1. Various of traffic lights not lit up due to power outages
2. Man cooking with firewood on street
3. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Maria del Carmen Montes, school worker:
“When I got up at 8 a.m., I found out that the power had gone out at 2 a.m., that the Guitera thermoelectric plant had failed. My daughter left for work, and I can’t go to work because there is no power. What does it affect? I could not go to work because there is no electricity. There is no food in the country and then one buys a little food from private businesses because in the bodega there is none and the food is spoiled because there is no electricity.”
4. Various of woman buying food
5. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Luis Manuel Preval, store employee:
“This affects my work and I feel pretty bad, but, well, we have to deal with this because we know we have problems and we have to deal with what we have.”
6. Various of people waiting outside bodega for rationed products
7. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Hortensia Gonzalez, retiree:
“There are places that have put it (reestablished electricity). Yet not here, and that affects the food for Cubans, it is spoilt”
8. People walking in street
9. Various of closed school
10. Various of traffic lights not lit up due to power outages
STORYLINE:
A new, widespread power outage plunged Cuba into darkness on Wednesday after one of the island’s major power plants failed, leaving millions without electricity and forcing authorities to suspend classes and work activities indefinitely.
The Electric Union, the state-run power company, attributed the incident to the shutdown of the Antonio Guiteras Thermoelectric Plant in Matanzas province, east of Havana.
The blackout, which occurred shortly after 2 a.m., affected the entire nation, the company said on X.
As of Wednesday morning, power began to be restored gradually in some parts of the country, including Havana.
Cuba’s Minister of Energy and Mines Vicente de la O said later in a televised address that service would be fully restored by Thursday.
Schools and some businesses were forced to close, testing many people’s patience.
Cuba’s power grid has been plagued by frequent outages in recent months, with more than half of the country experiencing power cuts during peak hours.
The outages are primarily caused by fuel shortages and aging infrastructure. In many parts of the island, electricity is crucial for cooking and water pumping.
The blackouts — caused in part by failures in old thermoelectric plants — are devastating, impacting families, schools and businesses.
Cuba gets its power from large thermoelectric plants like Antonio Guiteras and some smaller ones, which run on crude oil.
While the island produces about half of its own crude oil, it must import the remainder, which can be difficult — and costly — due to U.S. sanctions.
It has historically relied on allies like Venezuela and Russia for cheaper fuel supplies.
Cuba has been working on a project to upgrade the island’s electrical grid through the use of alternative power sources.
The construction of 31 centres to generate solar energy is under way and expected to be completed next year.
Cuba’s economic crisis has worsened in recent years, leading to food and fuel shortages, mounting inflation and a loss of purchasing power —and forcing thousands to flee, mainly to the U.S. but also Spain and other Latin American countries.
AP video shot by Osvaldo Angulo and Milexy Duran
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