Frustration in Cuba spilled onto the streets on Tuesday evening after the island endured its third nationwide power cut of the year. In several places across the country, angry residents stepped outside and began banging pots to make their fury heard, while others set rubbish on fire in the road. Their target was the latest blackout, which had once again left much of the nation in the dark.
Rare Protests in a Country Where Dissent Carries a Heavy Price
Cuba is a Communist-run state, and openly criticising the government often comes at the cost of a long prison sentence. Even so, in the areas hit hardest by the outages, people came out on their own, without any organised leadership, to vent their anger. That is precisely what makes these demonstrations remarkable, because showing open discontent here is considered a serious risk.
The country is grappling with severe fuel shortages, a crisis that tight US sanctions and an effective US oil blockade have made far worse. The situation is so difficult that even those who own generators frequently lack the fuel to run them when the electricity fails. As a result, the moment the power goes, their homes go dark too.
Power Restored in Most Areas, but Some Streets Stayed Dark
Cuban officials said on Tuesday that electricity had been restored across most of the country. Yet in the places still without power, locals were shouting, turn on the lights! Monday's nationwide failure was the third such incident this year. It came on top of the planned, rolling electricity cuts that the state itself imposes to conserve what little fuel remains.
Some rural areas are left in darkness for as long as 70 hours at a stretch, while urban zones have faced scheduled outages of up to 30 hours. The state electricity company did not explain what had caused this latest unplanned failure. Santiago de Cuba, the country's second-largest city, was among the places where power had still not returned by Tuesday evening local time.
The President Admits Discontent Is Spreading
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel has himself acknowledged the growing frustration among the population. Speaking to reporters, he said, there are shortages of transport, food, medicines, there are lengthy power cuts lasting more than 20 hours, that causes dissatisfaction, nobody can be happy, the people are suffering. He made the remarks to journalists from Claridad, a Spanish-language weekly newspaper based in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The president, however, urged Cubans to aim their anger at the US government rather than his own. People bang pots, some with more anger than others, he said. I say: direct your pot-banging towards our northern neighbours, who are the ones behind these power cuts.
Washington Lays the Blame on Havana
The US Ambassador to the United Nations, Michael Waltz, placed the responsibility squarely on the Cuban government. Speaking at a meeting of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, he urged the government to change its ways and turn the lights back on for its people. He added, pointedly, that there always seems to be enough power for the Cuban dictatorship.
In response, Cuba's foreign minister, Bruno Rodríguez, accused the United States of waging multi-dimensional, non-conventional warfare against Cuba. According to him, that campaign has become ever more cruel over the last seven months.
Decades of Tension, Deepening Sharply This Year
Relations between the United States and Cuba have been strained for decades, but they have deteriorated rapidly since the start of the year. That was when US President Donald Trump accused the island's government of posing a threat to the national security of the United States. In January, US forces seized former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a close ally of the Cuban government. Shortly afterwards, Trump openly mused that Cuba was ready to fall.
Since then, the Trump administration has imposed fresh sanctions on Cuba and enforced an effective blockade on oil shipments to the island. It has also threatened to slap tariffs on any country that supplies Cuba with fuel. On top of that, the US has levelled murder charges against Cuba's former president, Raúl Castro, who remains an influential figure on the island despite being 95 years old.
Public Insults, Private Talks
Interestingly, despite trading sharp barbs in public, the two countries have quietly been holding talks over recent weeks. Cuba's foreign minister said on Tuesday that those discussions show no progress. Even so, he left the door open to dialogue based on mutual respect and non-interference in Cuba's internal affairs.
