HAVANA: Millions of Cubans were without electricity for a second night Saturday after a widespread blackout hit the island, the fourth in less than six months.
Cubans have been facing a serious economic crisis marked by widespread food, fuel and medicine shortages, and the island’s aging and often failing power system has made things worse.
The latest major outage began late Friday at a substation near the capital Havana and then spread nationwide, affecting most of the cash-strapped island’s 9.7 million people. Authorities said Saturday they were working to restore power, but acknowledged progress was slow.
In the meantime, Cubans were doing their best to get along. Jorge Suarez, a 47-year-old lawyer, was having a beer at a Havana bar where a small generator was helping keep the place open.
“You get used to the conditions,” he told. “It’s like the animals that live in the desert: they have to adapt to live without water. “We just have to adapt and wait for the government… to resolve the problem.”
Adela Alba, 37, owns the establishment, which also serves as a grocery store. “It’s very difficult to work like this,” she said.
Her generator allows her to “maintain a minimum of service, because we have to pay the rent and the taxes despite the situation,” she added.
Elsewhere people cooked meals using firewood due to the months-long gas shortage, while others gathered in homes or businesses with generators so they could charge their cell phones.
