On the morning Friday 18 October at local time, Cuba’s largest power plant failed, resulting in a nationwide electricity blackout. The Cuban government announced emergency measures to conserve energy and ensure key sectors and emergency services remain online while power is gradually restored to the population of around 10 million people. Commercial activities have been suspended, workers have been told to stay at home and schools are closed until 25 October. Energy and Mining Minister Vicente de la O Levy announced that the government aimed to have power restored to the majority of the population by Monday night. This is the largest blackout in Cuba in several years and was ongoing even as Hurricane Oscar battered Cuba’s eastern provinces with dangerously high winds and torrential rain on Monday 21 October.
The breakdown of ageing energy infrastructure is a direct result of the 62-year illegal US blockade of Cuba. The blockade is designed to undermine Cuba’s socialist development and bring about unrest and regime change.
A storm of sanctions has been unleashed on Cuba’s energy sector in the past decade by the US: the targeting of Cuba’s ally Venezuela with punishing sanctions in 2014, one of Cuba’s main oil suppliers; 56 new unilateral coercive measures brought by the Trump administration directly against the Cuban energy sector; and the Biden administration’s refusal to reverse these sanctions, including against oil tankers that dock in Cuba. More broadly, the blockade restricts Cuba’s ability to purchase parts needed for repairs, access financing for new infrastructure, and pay for fuel imported from abroad.
The Revolutionary Communist Group and Rock around the Blockade stand in solidarity with the Cuban people. We demand an end to the illegal US blockade of Cuba and call on people in Britain to build political solidarity with Cuba’s socialist revolution.
