Cuba in darkness: a nation paralyzed by grid collapse and economic crisis

Just 90 miles from American shores, Cuba's struggle foreshadows an unsettling glimpse of the fragility we all face.

Residents of Havana cook soup over an open fire. (AP photo)

One week ago, all non-essential workplaces and schools in Cuba were closed. The idea was to send workers and students home in an effort to save energy, after the electrical grid collapsed, plunging the entire country into darkness.

In a televised address that presumably few could watch, Cuba’s Prime Minister — Manuel Marrero — told citizens the government had no choice but to “paralyze the economy,” after a perfect storm of circumstances (tropical storms, failing infrastructure, gas shortages, etc.) brought down the national grid.

In an effort to say something positive, Marrero announced the country is, “not yet in a bottomless abyss.”

Not yet.

That may or may not be comforting news to Maria Elena Cárdenas, a 76-year-old resident of old Havana who, as the Guardian reports, “has been cooking with sticks she had found on the street.”

It is hard to fathom conditions like this taking place just 90 miles off the coast of Key West. While Americans are in the grips of an election spectacle the likes of which have scarcely been seen before, we have hardly even noticed the third world conditions our Cuban neighbors have been living through.

Cuba’s leaders like to blame America and its long-standing embargo for the troubles. But there is no escaping reality. Eventually it catches up, and suddenly all the weight of the mismanagement of funds and poorly informed political decisions are laid bare for all to see.

For decades, Cuba was the darling of wannabe communists, with its cigar smoking charismatic leader, Fidel Castro, showcasing what sympathizers wanted to believe was the best of collectivism. In a hyper-romanticized fantasy, we were told Cuba was filled with happy citizens, homes for all, and free healthcare. (Sounds a bit like Canada, actually.)

But, recent media reports paint a very different picture:

From The Guardian:

Failures have been reported in the equally obsolete water supply system. Six hundred thousand people lack regular running water, but the blackouts appear to have multiplied that number by damaging pumps and pipes. Much of Havana is dry.

From Reuters:

Housewife Anabel Gonzalez, of old Havana, a neighborhood popular with tourists, said she was growing desperate after three days without power.

"My cell phone is dead and look at my refrigerator. The little that I had has all gone to waste," she said, pointing to bare shelves in her two-room home.

Even before the nationwide blackout, power cuts of up to 18-20 hours were common across Cuba. (AFP photo)

Two years ago, extensive blackouts caused thousands of Cubans to pour into the streets in protest, banging pots and pans, and shouting for freedom. Now though, the government has warned that attempts to “disturb public order” will not be tolerated. Anyway, it appears those citizens who might normally protest and complain are beyond fed up — they’re now totally exhausted.

Cuba, it would seem, has become the first Western nation to return to a pre-industrial time not caused by war-mongering US neocon bombings.

Ponytail Pete says it’s a great opportunity for America to bring Cuba back into the North American fold, since the Chinese are broke and don’t want to provoke the ire of the US with large scale support. But, if The Guardian is to be believed, the Chinese are already there, cutting deals to access Cuba’s nickel supply in exchange for solar power generation. Given all the domestic issues in America, we doubt anyone will get their act together in Washington, DC to reach out to Havana.

The situation in Cuba is fluid, as these crises almost always are. The lack of power has cascaded into a water crisis, and presumably rampant hunger and sickness will soon follow. How long before the entire healthcare system comes down is anyone’s guess, but we’d say it won’t be long.

And then, how long before this kind of situation comes to America? Hurricane Helene proved that, as a nation of individuals, we have the chops to come together and help. But multiply a situation like Helene by 10 or 100, and then pepper that across the whole country… that would require a major mobilization that could swamp citizen-led relief efforts. Then how long would it be before people, demoralized and dejected by their situation, simply give up and go hyper-local?

It’s all within the realm of possibility. With ballot boxes in America now ablaze in various locations in the nation, be assured of one thing: chaos — just like the devil — crouches at the door.

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