Cubans are worried this week about the prospect of extended power outages (again) on the island. Granma ran a special piece on Monday calling on the populace to stop “wasteful” use of energy, which between January and April apparently cost the federal government $12-15 million dollars over what it had predicted to spend during that period. The article, written by a member of the National Assembly, warned that further overuse would lead Cuba to resort to power outages, because the island at this point does not have the energy imports for high use, nor the money to pay for it.
Most Cubans shudder at the reference to power outages, remembering the “special period” in 2004 when the country experienced an electricity crisis and the population was frequently left without power for long periods of time. In 2006, the electricity sector underwent a modernization phase such that in 2007, the state announced that Cuba would not have power outages moving forward. But in the current difficult period, Cubans fear that yesterday’s Granma article is meant to prepare them for the state to renege on its promise.
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