Massive blackouts roil Cuba

People sit outside their home during a power outage caused by breakdowns forcing six plants to go off-line on the grid, according to the state run power company, in Matanzas, Cuba August 22, 2024. /Norlys Perez

CARDENAS, Cuba - Power outages totaling 14 hours or more per day were reported on Thursday across much of crisis-racked Cuba, leaving millions of residents defenseless in the summer heat and humidity.

The state-run power company said breakdowns had forced six plants off-line on the outdated and poorly maintained grid.

The monopoly provider promised only minor relief for the weekend with humidity forecast at around 90% and temperatures of up to 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit).

On Thursday evening there was no power in Matanzas province just east of Havana, except at the famed Varadero tourism resort and key institutions such as hospitals, according to local social media reports and Reuters witnesses.

Residents appeared resigned to their fate and would not provide last names as they sought fresh air on the darkened streets of the town of Santa Marta in Cardenas municipality.

"We are already adapted, the Cuban lives like this, laughing calmly, with light or without light," said Doris, sitting outside her home with two adult sons.

The blackouts, which disrupt daily life and the economy, have plagued the Communist-run country since 2021, sparking rare protests. They reflect a deepening economic crisis marked by shortages of basic goods, double-digit inflation and a lack of cash to import fuel and parts for infrastructure.

Ariel Rodriguez, a 52-year-old restaurant worker at the other end of the Caribbean island nation in eastern Santiago de Cuba, where protests broke out in March demanding food and lights, said by phone that the blackouts had eased since then but were worsening again.

“Over the last two weeks power cuts have averaged 10 hours a day, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. and at night from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.,” he said.

“Yesterday they added 11 p.m. to 3:15 a.m.,” Rodriguez added.

Residents in eastern Holguin province and central Camaguey and Cienfuegos provinces described similar conditions.

Havana has largely been spared the blackouts, which come in tranches of four hours or more, often multiple times over 24 hours.