138

Cuba suffers blackout with millions losing power after national grid fails (www.independent.co.uk)

submitted 1 month ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

17 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Cuba’s biggest blackout in at least two years left millions without power and prompted the government to announce emergency measures

Millions of Cubans were plunged into total darkness as they faced a country-wide blackout after a power plant failed, causing the nation’s electrical grid to disconnect.

Government officials, who had warned about ongoing blackouts in recent days, implemented emergency measures such as suspending classes, shutting down some state-owned workplaces and canceling non-essential services

Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz said in an address on Thursday evening that the government had been “paralyzing” the economy in recent weeks in an attempt to continue providing electricity to citizens.

For weeks, Cuba has suffered a fuel shortage which has impacted the ability to run the power grid. Parts of the country have had no power for 12 hours a day. When power is turned on, demand increases putting a strain on the weak infrastructure.

That is, in part, due to an economic crisis and weather-related problems which have made imports difficult to obtain.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 37 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

It is also in part due to 60 years of bullshit ass embargoes.

If they hadn't been denied trade for six decades, maybe their systems would be more modern and robust.

[-] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 11 points 1 month ago

Can they not trade with PRC now?

[-] Cethin@lemmy.zip 8 points 1 month ago

China is pretty far away from Cuba, so even if they can it's not a natural primary trade partner. With the globalization of trade, it could maybe be fine for some things, but not things that you need suddenly.

Also, any ships stopping at Cuba can't go to the US for 180 days, so if a vessel carrying goods from China stops at Cuba it can't also stop at the US, which is a slightly larger economy.

[-] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 month ago

I was more thinking in the context of belt and road. Throw some solar and wind on the islands.

[-] rc__buggy@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Naw, all that is still good to go.

Their real problem is dependence on Venezuela for fuel and since Maduro has fucked up that economy so completely they aren't getting the oil they need. Doesn't stop Cuba from blaming the embargoes though, I guess some people still believe it.

I mean, maybe they can't pay for enough oil because they are broke but I'd think that Venezuela has enough problems they can't help out with a socialist solidarity deal like Chavez used to give them.

[-] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 month ago

I went to Cuba last year, it's pretty messed up there. The currency is a mess. Doctors make $35 per month. Cab drivers that carry tourists make more than $20 for a trip to the airport. There's a huge black market for currency there since the government keeps coming up with crazy monetary schemes which obviously don't work.

The government buildings are pristine, nicer than those you'd see in any developed country, but the people live in poverty.

It's a last days of the Soviet Union kind of thing happening there. Their system is broken, the country could collapse any day.

[-] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I guess the years they have been under embargoes and unable to import means its their own fault they didn't spend that time diversifying their electrical grid into solar and wind? When their lack of ability to import impacted their ability to get a hold of those kind of things easily?

The point is they would be a lot farther along with such efforts if they hadn't been prevented from trading with half the world for over half a century.

But sure, because they haven't spun up modern infrastructure when they can't trade with half the world is their fault, and not because they have limited means and places from which to get the material and tools for such infrastructure.

[-] rc__buggy@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 month ago

The Castro's fault? Absolutely.

My solar panels came from China, theirs can too. Cuba doesn't have a single West German engineered power plant, those parts don't come from modern Germany.

Embargoes (and especially the terrorist definition) are a big stumbling block but don't act like corruption and terrible mismanagement aren't the bulk of modern Cuba's problems.

[-] Miaou@jlai.lu 2 points 1 month ago

Then why are the sanctions still in place? If the US stopped pirating maybe we would be able to tell bow shitty the government is. But all anyone can see here is a cruel government getting off oppressing smaller nations. It's not even about political blackmail, given how Puerto Rico and Hawaii are treated, only gratuitous violence.

[-] rc__buggy@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I disagree with the sanctions. Hell, we trade with worse regimes every day. Lifting the sanctions would help the residents of Cuba immensely. The "sticking point" of the nationalized property back in '59 should be moot. It's not about making property owners whole at this point, it's about helping the people of Cuba. That is non-negotiable for the expats though.

this post was submitted on 18 Oct 2024

138 points (96.6% liked)

World News

39167 readers

1146 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

Rule 1: posts have the following requirements:
- Post news articles only
- Video links are NOT articles and will be removed.
- Title must match the article headline
- Not United States Internal News
- Recent (Past 30 Days)
- Screenshots/links to other social media sites (Twitter/X/Facebook/Youtube/reddit, etc.) are explicitly forbidden, as are link shorteners.
Rule 2: Do not copy the entire article into your post. The key points in 1-2 paragraphs is allowed (even encouraged!), but large segments of articles posted in the body will result in the post being removed. If you have to stop and think "Is this fair use?", it probably isn't. Archive links, especially the ones created on link submission, are absolutely allowed but those that avoid paywalls are not.
Rule 3: Opinions articles, or Articles based on misinformation/propaganda may be removed. Sources that have a Low or Very Low factual reporting rating or MBFC Credibility Rating may be removed.
Rule 4: Posts or comments that are homophobic, transphobic, racist, sexist, anti-religious, or ableist will be removed. “Ironic” prejudice is just prejudiced.
Posts and comments must abide by the lemmy.world terms of service UPDATED AS OF 10/19
Rule 5: Keep it civil. It's OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It's NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.

Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.

Rule 6: Memes, spam, other low effort posting, reposts, misinformation, advocating violence, off-topic, trolling, offensive, regarding the moderators or meta in content may be removed at any time.
Rule 7: We didn't USED to need a rule about how many posts one could make in a day, then someone posted NINETEEN articles in a single day. Not comments, FULL ARTICLES. If you're posting more than say, 10 or so, consider going outside and touching grass. We reserve the right to limit over-posting so a single user does not dominate the front page.

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.