International
A third total blackout in Cuba in three days thwarts attempts to recover the service
The third total blackout of Cuba’s National Electric System (SEN) in less than 72 hours has once again frustrated this Sunday attempts to restore a basic service that collapsed three days ago after weeks of exacerbation of an energy crisis that has been brewing for years.
“At this moment, steps are being taken to restore the connection,” Félix Estrada, director of the national cargo office of the company Unión Eléctrica, told state television.
The manager of the state company explained that a strategy is currently being followed to reorganize the country’s electricity generating units by regions and then carry out their start-up.
He said that the objective is to restore the SEN connection in the shortest possible time to gradually restore the service of the approximately ten million inhabitants of the island.
Cause of the third blackout in Cuba
He recalled that the cause of this third blackout occurred due to a “transmission failure” when it had been possible to connect in the same subsystem to Mariel (west) and Holguín (east), separated by more than 600 kilometers.
The first total fall of the system that left the country in “zero national energy coverage” was recorded last Friday, after an “unforeseen” exit from operations of the Guiteras thermoelectric plant, considered key to the stability of the SEN.
This Saturday, the actions carried out to re-energize and recover the SEN failed again, which caused the second total disconnection, and in the last hours of that day the subsystem that had been created in the western half of the island collapsed, so the work had to start again.
The Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, acknowledged this Sunday in an appearance that the situation in the electricity system is “very tense.”
Precarious state
But he said that the Government aspires for the SEN to recover within two days the state it had before the first massive blackout and that consequently most consumers will have light again “tomorrow Monday” and that “the last customer may perhaps be receiving (current) next Tuesday.”
The SEN is in a very precarious state due to the shortage of fuel – the result of the lack of foreign exchange to import it – and the frequent breakdowns in obsolete thermoelectric plants, with four decades of operation and chronic lack of investments.
Stocks have been common for years but the situation has worsened in recent weeks. In recent days, days have been recorded with maximum affectation rates of more than 50%, that is, moments when half of the country was simultaneously without electricity.
Affected economy
The frequent blackouts damage the Cuban economy – which in 2023 contracted by 1.9% and boost social discontent in a society affected by an aggravated economic crisis in recent years.
They have also been the trigger for anti-government protests, including those of July 11, 2021 – the largest in decades – those in Nuevitas and Havana in August and September 2022, and those of last March 17 in Santiago de Cuba (east) and other locations.
The last time a similar situation of “zero production” occurred was in September 2022, after the passage of Hurricane Ian with category three through the extreme east of the island. This caused a serious mismatch and the recovery took days.
International
María Corina Machado kidnapped and forced to record videos before being released, says opposition
The Venezuela Command, the campaign team of opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia, denounced the “kidnapping” and subsequent release of political leader María Corina Machado after she led a protest in Caracas on the eve of the Venezuelan presidential inauguration.
In a post on X, the opposition team stated that the former lawmaker was “intercepted and knocked off the motorcycle she was traveling on” after leading a rally in the Chacao area of the Venezuelan capital.
“Gunshots were fired during the incident. She was forcibly detained. During her kidnapping, she was forced to record several videos, and then she was released,” the statement added, which was made public nearly two hours after Machado’s party, Vente Venezuela, reported that she had been “violently intercepted.”
International
Governor Jenniffer González expresses solidarity with Venezuela’s struggling opposition
Puerto Rico’s Governor Jenniffer González expressed her sorrow over Venezuela’s political crisis on Thursday and voiced her support for Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia, just one day before President Nicolás Maduro is set to take office following the controversial July elections.
“I think it is sad that the Venezuelan people have to suffer the consequences of a dictator who came to power by deceiving the people. I recognize Edmundo González for his leadership,” the governor stated during a press conference, coinciding with a day of protests by Venezuela’s opposition.
“The Venezuelan community has my full support, and, as we have done in the past, we will maintain that line of communication with whatever we can collaborate on,” assured the Puerto Rican head of government.
González Urrutia is currently in the Dominican Republic, the last announced stop on his American tour, where he was accompanied by Dominican President Luis Abinader and former Latin American presidents from the Spain and Americas Democratic Initiative (Grupo Idea).
International
Hundreds of venezuelan protesters demand ‘democratic change’ in Rome
Dozens of Venezuelans demonstrated in central Rome on Thursday to show their support for opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia and demand a “democratic change,” on the eve of the presidential inauguration that has deeply divided the country.
The protest took place in the Roman square of Largo Argentina and gathered several members of the Venezuelan diaspora and refugees, who sang their national anthem and displayed signs with the slogan “Glory to the brave people.”
Around 150 participants were present, according to one of the coordinators of the protest, Celeste Puerta from the ‘Aiuto Venezuela’ Civic Movement, who spoke to EFE.
Similar actions have been organized in other Italian cities, including Bologna, Florence, and Milan in the north.
María Corina Machado kidnapped and forced to record videos before being released, says opposition
Governor Jenniffer González expresses solidarity with Venezuela’s struggling opposition
Hundreds of venezuelan protesters demand ‘democratic change’ in Rome
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