“Dear compatriots: Infinite thanks for heroism in the face of barbarism of the economic war that is being waged on us.” Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel called on an overwhelmed population to remember 2024 “not because of the obstacles and shortcomings” but “because we all defeated them together.” The greeting message to the The 66th anniversary of the revolutionary triumph coincided with a new wave of partial blackouts on the island. Not all houses celebrated the arrival of the new year with light. “It is extremely honorable and exciting to know that you are part of this town. who was not born destined for greatness. He has earned it through heroism and creativity in the resistance,” Díaz-Canel insisted.
The state company Unión Eléctrica (UNE) estimated that At least 10% of households said goodbye to the year in the dark. The authorities made an effort to mitigate the gloom. The previous days had found almost 38% of the country with partial cuts of up to 12 hours. The Government has tried to ensure that these do not affect Havana so much, where consumption and also collective anger with the situation are concentrated.
The electric service crisis had a turning point in 2024 with three total system disconnections, and only one caused by a hurricane. The blackouts caused greater social unrest and redoubled the Government’s calls for patience and resignation disguised as heroism. Cuba consumes eight million tons of fuelbut it only produces three million and must acquire the remaining total. Russia contributed dozens of ships to prevent the situation from getting worse. Venezuelan oil did not flow as before. Mexico contributed to ensuring that the supply deficit was not even more acute.
The effect of these interruptions is devastating for an economy that does not start for reasons that exceed the energy problem and the United States sanctions themselves. “Neither the redundant garbage, nor the cavalcade of headless prices, nor the lack of sugar in the country that once had sugar, nor the eggs that we are missing, nor two cyclones nor two earthquakes, nor the return of Trump, nor the world at war, not a dandy birthday in a closed area… None, among the many events that marked the public agenda in Cuba during this past year, was more constant or disturbed citizen sensitivity as much as the issue of electricity; colloquially said: the lack of light,” noted the portal ‘La Joven Cuba’.
The year of “adjustment”
The authorities expressed their willingness to launch an energy transition. Rhetorical will collides with facts. 2024 was also the year of economic adjustment, a concept common to many Latin American economies that was unknown in Cuba before the monetary reform. The Government welcomed the good news of a current account surplus after having drastically cut public spending by $2.375 million. Only the pruning of the Argentine far-right Javier Milei has been greater in the region. The Government expected GDP growth, but the forecasts were not met and A similar contraction of 1.9% is expected in 2023. The island has not been able to recover pre-pandemic activity levels. Tourism, the main economic engine, decreased almost eight points compared to 2023.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, However, he expressed his confidence that the light of hope is more powerful than that of dwindling electricity service. “With the strength of unity this year we have moved forward against the damage caused by the genocidal blockade of the US government to the Cuban people and adversities imposed by nature.”
It was not just the lack of energy that soured the end-of-year festivities in the largest of the Antilles. The economist Pedro Monrealwho was part of the American Studies Center (CEA), an intellectual powerhouse of Castroism decades ago, has calculated that a family of three needs between ten and eleven minimum wages to eat for a month. The minimum wage is 62 dollars and the average is about 190 of the North American currency. This lack was reflected in the Christmas tables and those on the night of December 31, accentuating the duality that affects an island where the difference between to have or not to haveas a novel by Ernest Hemingway is called, written in 1937 and with Cuba at the epicenter of the story. Pork or fish, the so-called Moro rice and sweets were missed by a population affected by the food emergency. In the midst of the shortage, the official portal ‘Cubadebate’ recommended imaginative recipes to its readers such as “bananas of temptation”, with sugar, wine and cinnamon, and “chicken with coconut milk” or “with honey“. The recipes have been mocked on social media.
The issue of remittances
The table was better served for those families that receive money from those who live abroad. Some 218,000 people arrived in the United States alone in the year that just passed. Remittances currently constitute the second item of the Cuban economy. In 2023 they were 1,972 million dollars. However, the Business Administration Group SA (GAESA) managed by the Armed Forces has lost the monopoly on receiving that money in 2024. Remittances are being captured by a network of more than 150 “informal banks.” The so-called “financial rebellion” is not unrelated to the validity of North American sanctions that prohibit transactions with entities controlled by the military.
