Cuba tries to return to normal, but it does so only half-heartedly. -and the seventh in a year and a half-, the island has begun to progressively recover the electricity supply, although it is still very far from a total recovery.
The authorities have managed to reactivate several key thermal power plants, including some of the most important in the country, which has allowed a large part of the national electrical system to be reconnected.
In fact, the service is already working again, at least partially, in a good part of the territory, from the western end to the east of the island. However, There are still completely disconnected areas, such as Guantánamo, where isolated systems are depended on to cover basic services. A situation that continues to be complicated, despite the “good” news.
In Havana, the capital and one of the most sensitive points, electricity has returned to about 70% of customers. But the data is misleading if it is not contextualized: priority has focused on hospitals, water systems and essential serviceswhile thousands of homes remain in the dark and dozens of circuits remain pending recovery. Yes, but no.
A more than complex process
The reconnection process is neither immediate nor easy. To lift the electrical system, technicians have to rebuild it practically from scratch, creating small “islands” of generation with energies that are easier to activate, such as solar or motors, which little by little are connected to each other until the large plants are reactivated. It is a slow, delicate process and vulnerable to new failures.
And that is precisely the underlying problem: the fragility of the system. The blackout occurred after a breakdown in a thermal power plant which triggered a chain effect, leaving a good part of the country without service. A pattern that is repeated with increasing frequency in an aging and overloaded electrical grid.
But the crisis is not only technical. It is also energetic and political. The lack of fuel, exacerbated by oil import restrictions, has left many generators out of service, limiting the system’s ability to respond. The result is a critical situation that was already dragging on: daily outages of up to 15 hours in the capital and blackouts that exceed 48 hours in other provinces.
Patience is running out
In this context, the patience of the population begins to run out. In recent days, there have been protests in different parts of the country, especially in Havana, and a demonstration in Morón that ended with arrests. Electricity, more than a service, has become the thermometer of a crisis that goes far beyond light.
Meanwhile, Cuba progresses in a partial recovery that relieves, but does not resolve. Because even if the power returns little by little, the problem is still there: a system on the limit that threatens to shut down again at any moment.
