Cuba extends workplace, school shutdowns after blackouts

BOGOTA, Colombia

Authorities in Cuba decided to extend shutdowns of workplaces and schools through Sunday after the country’s electrical grid collapsed four times last week due to the failure of the country’s largest power plant.

The National Defense Council announced Wednesday that only vital services such as hospitals will stay open.

Electricity has been restored in most of the capital city of Havana and some outlying areas.

The government closed schools last Friday and ordered non-essential public sector activities to stop as work began on restoring the electrical grid after power went out for the island's 10 million people when the nation's largest coal-fired power plant failed, according to Lazaro Guerra, the electricity director for the Ministry of Energy and Mines.

But the arrival of Hurricane Oscar on Sunday across eastern Cuba hampered efforts to restore power.

The storm’s heavy rains and winds killed seven people and impacted millions of Cubans already facing days without power. The storm also affected banana, coffee and tomato plantations and caused damage to dozens of homes.

On Wednesday, Cuba announced that non-vital work activities and classes at all educational levels will be suspended until Sunday. Authorities believe that by then, such activities can be carried out normally throughout the country.

Mexico announced that its embassy in Havana “duly expressed its willingness to provide support to the Cuban people in light of the difficult situation they are facing.”

A post published on X by Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel countered a statement by the US State Department saying that the United States was willing to help Cuba if it requested it.

Experts say that Cuba’s energy crisis, caused by fuel shortages and poor infrastructure, could last two years while blackouts become more common.

The government has blamed the US economic blockade, which has prevented the entry of foreign investment to the island.

“Some 41 countries and several international organizations have expressed their solidarity with Cuba, which is facing the simultaneous impacts of a cyclone and an energy emergency with admirable resilience,” Diaz-Canel said on his X account.

“The US declares that we have not asked for anything. Here is our demand: #TumbaElBloqueo (Eliminate the embargo),” he added.