SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Cuba's power grid shut down Friday. The massive outage has left 10 million people on the island without electricity. Reporter Emily Green in Mexico City has been following the situation. Emily, thank you for being with us.
EMILY GREEN: Thanks so much for having me.
SIMON: What's the latest we know?
GREEN: Well, there was a trickle of power returning this morning, but the grid has collapsed again in the last two hours. The night before the blackout, the prime minister declared a, quote, "energy emergency." He introduced measures to reduce power use across the country. State workers were told to stay at home. Schools have been closed, as well as nonessential industries. And he also sought to assuage concerns, saying he expects an influx of fuel from Cuba's state-owned oil company.
But the truth is that for now, many residents are using candles and lanterns. It's difficult to cook. Thousands are left without water because the infrastructure is crippled. A lucky few are using generators. The last time there was a complete collapse of the power grid was after Hurricane Ian in 2022. Cuba's president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, has said that everything possible is being done to fix the problem. Quote, "there will be no rest until power is restored," he said. But there's still no time frame for when the crisis is going to be resolved.
SIMON: Emily, what caused it?
GREEN: Well, according to Cuban government officials, it was triggered shortly after the failure of one of the country's largest power plants near the capital of Havana. That, in turn, prompted a total breakdown of Cuba's electrical system. Cuba's prime minister blamed the problem on deteriorating infrastructure, as well as fuel shortages exacerbated by Hurricane Milton, which has made it difficult for deliveries of much-needed fuel to reach the island.
SIMON: This could not have come as a total surprise to Cuban officials then, did it?
GREEN: I don't think so. Cuba's electrical grid and power plants are old. They're falling apart. And because Cuba produces very little fuel of its own, it relies on imports to keep the electrical grid afloat. The big problem is that Venezuela, a political ally that for decades was Cuba's principal provider of fuel, it has slashed shipments amid its own economic crisis. Mexico and Russia have also cut exports, leaving Cuba in a very vulnerable position. For months, there have been rolling blackouts across the island, and the situation came to a head with the failure of the power plant on Friday. But this is really a crisis that's years in the making.
SIMON: And help us understand the range of consequences for the Cuban people.
GREEN: Well, back in March, hundreds of protesters took to the streets in Cuba's second-largest city, furious over the lack of electricity and food. Food is a big issue. Cuba's communist government, which uses a rationing system to provide a certain amount of food per household, it started limiting its allocations of bread only to children and pregnant women. Some analysts say conditions are worse than the economic crisis that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, a time known as a special period.
SIMON: And there might be political consequences now?
GREEN: The Cuban government has long been blamed - has long blamed its woes on U.S. sanctions that have complicated the island's purchase of fuel and food. And while the causes of this crisis are multifaceted, there's no doubt this is a new low for the government. You know, people are desperate. And in this desperation, we're seeing an unprecedented number of Cubans trying to flee the island by any means possible. The island has lost an estimated 10% of its population over the last three years, so it is a very, very precarious situation.
SIMON: Reporter Emily Green in Mexico City. Thanks so much for being with us.
GREEN: Thank you.
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