Cuba has managed to connect its electricity system across much of the island, the Ministry of Energy and Mines announced early yesterday, while US President Donald Trump continued his harsh rhetoric towards the communist state last night, saying that Washington will "do something about Cuba very soon."
After saying on Monday that he could "do whatever he wants" with Cuba, Trump reiterated yesterday that the country was in bad shape and that he was speaking with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Cuba's national power grid collapsed on Monday, leaving about 10 million people without power, amid a US oil blockade that further paralysed the island's already outdated production system.
Cuba's aging power grid has seriously deteriorated in recent years, leading to daily outages and increasingly frequent power outages across the island.
The government in Havana also blames the US energy blockade for its problems, after Trump in January threatened tariffs on any country that sells or supplies oil to Cuba. The Trump administration is demanding that Cuba release political prisoners and move towards political and economic liberalization in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. On Monday, Trump said he believed he would have the “honor to take over Cuba.” “I mean, either I free it or I take it over. I think I can do whatever I want with it,” Trump said of Cuba, calling it a “very weakened country.”
The Associated Press reported, citing a US official and a source familiar with the talks between Washington and Havana, that the Trump administration wants Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel to step down, while the US continues negotiations with the Cuban government about the future of the island nation.
AP sources confirmed to the AP that the Trump administration wants Diaz-Canel out of power just days after the Cuban president first publicly acknowledged that his government had been in talks with the Trump administration. The administration's push to have Diaz-Canel removed was first reported by The New York Times on Monday.
Electricity production, hampered by fuel shortages and aging power plants, remains severely reduced across the island despite efforts to restore the grid, providing only limited relief to residents already exhausted by months of power outages, Reuters reports.
Most Cubans, including residents of the capital Havana, were already facing 16 or more hours of daily power outages before the latest grid collapse, further testing the patience of citizens accustomed to difficult living conditions.
“It affects every aspect of our lives,” Havana resident Carlos Montes de Oca told the British agency, noting that power outages have disrupted even the most basic needs such as food and water supplies. “All we can do is sit, wait, read a book... otherwise the stress overwhelms you.”
Cuba has not yet said what caused the nationwide power grid collapse on Monday, the first such outage since the United States cut off oil supplies from Venezuela and threatened to impose tariffs on countries that supply fuel to the island nation.
According to ship tracking data from LSEG, which Reuters saw on Monday, Cuba has received only two small ships carrying imported oil this year.
Russia said yesterday that it was unwavering in its solidarity with Cuba, and the Russian Foreign Ministry, without directly mentioning Trump, expressed serious concern about the escalation of tensions around, as it stated, "Island of Freedom."
“We strongly condemn attempts to grossly interfere in the internal affairs of a sovereign state, intimidation and the application of illegal unilateral restrictive measures,” the statement said. Russia said it had provided and would continue to “provide Cuba with the necessary support, including financial assistance.”
The collapse of the power grid on Monday overshadowed Cuba's invitation to Cuban Americans and other expatriates living abroad to invest and own companies on the island, interpreted as a goodwill gesture amid negotiations with Washington.
Despite the difficult conditions and harsh rhetoric, Cubans, who have been dealing with both good times and bad for decades, felt that there was little they could do but remain calm.
"There's still no electricity at my house," said Havana resident Juana Perez. "But we'll take it calmly, like we Cubans always do."
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