English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
In Havana it is a major event, while in the countryside “they have it at hand” 14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 6 March 2025 — Potatoes have just arrived at the rationed markets in Havana and Cubans do not need a town crier to alert them. With bags on their shoulders or carts in hand, … Continue reading “Cubans’ Obsession With Potatoes Takes Over Luyanó Amid Blackout”
Severalschools have reduced their hours and only offer classes in the mornings or from Monday to Thursday. 14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, March 2, 2025 — Dayma has not sent her daughter to school on Fridays in the municipality of Placetas, Villa Clara, where she is in third grade. According to 14ymedio, it is not … Continue reading “With Blackouts and No Teachers in the Schools, Cuban Education Has Become ‘Optional’”
20 photovoltaic plants are needed to replace the more than 400 MW lost with the closure of five floating power plants 14ymedio, Havana, 28 February 2025 — With great enthusiasm the Cuban authorities boasted a week ago of having synchronized the first photovoltaic park in Havana, named Escuela de Enfermería, to the national electrical system (SEN), … Continue reading “The Chinese Solar Parks Arrive, the Turkish ‘Patanas’ Leave and the Blackouts Continue”
After several days of blackouts lasting more than 20 hours a day, the residents of Cienfuegos face this February 14 with little enthusiasm 14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Cienfuegos, 14 February 2025 — There is no indication that this Friday will be a festive day for the people of Cienfuegos. After several days of blackouts lasting … Continue reading “Dining by Candlelight: Not for Valentine’s Day, but for the Blackouts”
The deficit forecast by UNE for this Wednesday marks a record of 1,870 megawatts 14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Madrid, 12 February 2025 — The Electric Union forecasts a record deficit of 1,870 megawatts (MW) for this Wednesday. The last time the authorities announced a similar figure – in October of last year – the country … Continue reading “After More Than 26 Consecutive Hours Without Electricity in Cienfuegos, Cubans Fear a New National Blackout”
The Cuban Prison Documentation Center indicated that the causes of Yoleisy Oviedo Rodríguez’s death are unknown. 14ymedio, Madrid, 12 February 2025 — Yoleisy Oviedo Rodríguez, who was serving a sentence in the Western Women’s Correctional Facility, known as El Guatao, in Havana, for participating in one of the protests that occurred on the island in … Continue reading “Cuba: Woman Who Protested Against Blackouts in Mayabeque Dies in Prison”
The scholarship holder is accused of being in line with the policy of the current Government of Claudia Sheinbaum 14ymedio, Havana, 25 October 2024 [Note delayed translation] — Raúl Guerrero, one of the 994 doctors who received scholarships from the National Council of Humanities, Sciences and Technologies (Conahcyt) to study a specialty in Cuba, asked … Continue reading “A Mexican Doctor Asks a Cuban Businessman to Get Him Out of a Cuba with Its Blackouts and No Food”
The country rejected “the plans of far-right dissident groups” to “convulse” the Cuban government EFE (via 14ymedio), La Paz, 20 October 2024 — The Bolivian government expressed its solidarity with Cuba on Saturday in the face of the blackouts recorded in recent hours on the island and denounced alleged plans by “far-right” dissidents who want … Continue reading “Bolivia is in Solidarity with Cuba Over the Blackouts and Sees Them as an Attempt to Destabilize President Díaz-Canel”
The Government suspends all teaching and work activities, except for “vital” ones The break occurred at 2:08 a.m. on Wednesday. 14ymedio, Havana, 4 December 2024 — Cuba’s National Electricity System (SEN) suffered its third disconnection in less than two months at 2:08 a.m. this morning, plunging the country into total darkness once again. According to … Continue reading “New Total Blackout in Cuba Due to the Disconnection of the Antonio Guiteras Power Plant”
The ’14ymedio’ newsroom in Nuevo Vedado was without electricity for 106 hours. Since that day, it has also registered a total of 68 protests. Of these, 12 took place after Rafael, hit western Cuba, on November 6, giving a total of 14 people detained. The most recent took place in Villa Clara, where at least … Continue reading “At Least 23 People Arrested in Cuba in Protests Over Blackouts”
The UN and the European Union will send 94 tons of supplies for those affected by Hurricane Oscar 14ymedio, Havana, 9 November 2024 — The two total blackouts that Cuba has suffered in the last three weeks are an economic, political and social disaster that deepens the multidimensional crisis that the country is suffering, experts … Continue reading “Total Blackouts Deepen the Multidimensional Crisis Cuba Is Suffering”
During the general blackout, the regime supplied the hotels with water for their tanks and fuel for their generators. 14ymedio, Havana, 29 October 2024 — The fact that last week’s news of the blackout was published in the world’s leading newspapers did not do the Cuban regime any favors, as it fears losing the few … Continue reading “To Reassure Russian Tourists, Cuba Assures That Damage From Blackouts Was ‘Minimal’”
Phosphorescent vests, rechargeable headlamps, flashlights or even traditional oil lamps are used to move around the city 14ymedio, Mercedes García, Sancti Spíritus, 26 October 2024 — A couple crosses paths with a friend on one of the main streets of the Kilo 12 neighborhood in the city of Sancti Spíritus. They can barely see each … Continue reading “In Sancti Spíritus the Public Lighting Died Long Before the Total Blackout”
14ymedio, Havana, 22 October 2024 — Vehículos Eléctricos del Caribe (Vedca), a Chinese-Cuban joint venture based in Havana, presented the medallists and coaches who took part in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games – and the Paralympics – with a batch of electric motorbikes. The reward for so much “sacrifice and abnegation” is ironic: it comes … Continue reading “In the Middle of a National Blackout, the Cuban Regime Hands Out Electric Motorbikes to Olympic Medallists”
Many emigrants have had to wait several days to reconnect with relatives on the Island 14ymedio, Juan Izquierdo, Havana, 23 October 2024 — The patience of Cubans runs out on par with the battery of their cell phones. For their relatives abroad, despair comes when an image, a voice and even messages vanish. That a … Continue reading “Lack of Communication With Family Abroad Is Another Traumatic Consequence of the Island-Wide Blackout in Cuba”
