A woman and a boy try to catch a hitchhiker during a rolling power outage in Bauta, Cuba, on Monday. The island is facing an energy crisis, with waves of power outages worsening in recent weeks.Ramon Espinosa/AP Hide caption
Toggle caption Ramon Espinosa/AP
A woman and a boy try to catch a hitchhiker during a rolling power outage in Bauta, Cuba, on Monday. The island is facing an energy crisis, with waves of power outages worsening in recent weeks.
Ramon Espinosa/Associated Press
MEXICO CITY — Hundreds of protesters have taken to the streets in Cuba in recent days, furious over lack of food and electricity. The demonstrations are centered around Santiago de Cuba, the country's second largest city, and surrounding towns in the southeast of the island, with chants of “hunger” and “we want food”.
These are the biggest anti-government protests since 2021, when thousands of Cubans took to the streets and sparked a massive state crackdown. Since then, the economic situation has worsened further, with analysts calling the current crisis the worst in at least 30 years.
Claribel, 58, who lives in Santiago, says there are almost no days when she doesn't have power outage for at least five hours. Her two-year-old great-nephew is being given juice instead of milk because her food is so scarce. Public transportation is running dry due to fuel shortages.
“The situation here is terrible,” Claribel said. “Living in Cuba is a tragedy.” NPR is withholding her last name for her safety.
Cuba's economy began to falter during the pandemic, with international tourism plummeting and inflation soaring. During the same period, former President Donald Trump re-designated Cuba as a “state sponsor of terrorism” and imposed a range of sanctions on the country.
However, the situation in the country has deteriorated rapidly in recent months, especially in poorer regions outside the capital, Havana. Since the beginning of March, fuel prices have increased five times. Public transportation fares are also on the rise. The Cuban government canceled all sporting events, citing a lack of transportation. Power outages have become permanent.
Drivers and motorcyclists line up to fill up their tanks at a gas station in Havana on January 9, the day after the Cuban government announced a 500% increase in fuel prices.Yamil Raji/AFP via Getty Images Hide caption
Toggle caption Yamil Raji/AFP via Getty Images
Drivers and motorcyclists line up to fill up their tanks at a gas station in Havana on January 9, the day after the Cuban government announced a 500% increase in fuel prices.
Yamil Raji/AFP via Getty Images
The communist government uses a rationing system to provide each household with a certain amount of food, but it has even begun to limit the allocation of bread to children and pregnant women. Some analysts say the situation is worse than the economic crisis that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, known as the Special Period.
Ricardo Torres, a Cuban economist at American University in Washington, D.C., said: “When I was a kid, I remember that during the special period, we were given bread every day, every Cuban. That's not the case.''
He said Cuba's problems, from food shortages to power outages, are the result of the country's large budget deficit and lack of funds to pay for imported goods. Aging power plants are down and there is not enough fuel to power the plants that are still operating.
A Turkish battleship anchors in the bay of Havana on February 17, 2023. Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters Hide caption
Toggle caption Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters
A Turkish battleship anchors in the bay of Havana on February 17, 2023.
Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters
“About 95 percent of Cuba's electricity is produced in power plants that burn oil: heavy oil, diesel, and even crude oil. So without fuel, you can't run the power plants,” Torres says. .
In other words, “no fuel, no electricity,” he says.
For more than two decades, Cuba has relied on its political ally, oil-rich Venezuela, for oil and fuel in exchange for sending doctors and school teachers to the South American country. But as Venezuela's oil production has plummeted in recent years, so has its tolerance for Cuba.
The report, citing researchers at the University of Texas who closely track shipments to Cuba, said Russia is now believed to be sending large tankers to assist the island as it faces oil shortages. ing.
Cuba's president said in a statement that his government would address protesters' concerns, but also accused “enemies of the revolution” of trying to destabilize the country and inciting the protests. he accused. A Cuban government spokesman blamed the economic crisis on decades of U.S. sanctions that have complicated the island's purchase of fuel and food.
That's partly true, says Amnesty International researcher Johanna Silano Pelaez. “But it would be irresponsible to blame the current state of Cuba's economy solely on U.S. sanctions,” she says.
So far, the Cuban government's response to the protests has been relatively subdued compared to 2021, when hundreds of demonstrators were arrested and some sentenced to up to 25 years in prison.
Authorities have detained some protesters in recent days while distributing more rice, milk and sugar to quell the growing protests.
Elderly people line up to buy bread at a bakery in Havana on March 8.Yamil Raji/AFP via Getty Images Hide caption
Toggle caption Yamil Raji/AFP via Getty Images
Elderly people line up to buy bread at a bakery in Havana on March 8.
Yamil Raji/AFP via Getty Images
In Santiago de Cuba, Claribel said the Cuban people's anger and frustration were beginning to outweigh their fear of government retaliation.
“People aren't going to back down,” Claribel says. “If it weren't for the protests, we would still be out of rice and chicken.”
I plan on bringing my grandchildren with me when I go to the demonstrations. “You can't touch the kids,” she says.