Cuba is facing a profound crisis in its electrical system as a consequence of the brutal and tightening blockade imposed on the country by the U.S. government. Starting on Friday, Cuba has been suffering from a nationwide blackout. Emergency efforts by the government have led to the restoration of power in some areas, and tireless work is underway to continue improving the situation. But that progress is imperiled by persisting shortages as well as Hurricane Oscar, which made landfall in the east of the island on Monday.
The main immediate cause of the blackout is a severe shortage of fuel necessary to operate electrical plants. As has been the case for over 60 years, the U.S. government is trying to portray the hardships caused by the blockade as inherent failures of the Cuban Revolution. But it is not “mismanagement” or the socialist system that prevents fuel from being imported into the country.
While the blockade has been in place for generations, the severity of the U.S. economic war on the island often varies from administration to administration. As part of its intensification of efforts to strangle the Cuban Revolution, the energy sector was one of the main targets of the 243 new measures imposed during the Trump administration. In 2019, new measures targeted two Cuban enterprises called Cubametales and Panamericana – which were central to oil and gas purchases. Since then, the importation of fuel has been an even more profoundly difficult task for Cuba, and the system finally reached a breaking point. These Trump-imposed measures have been maintained by the Biden administration.
The economic situation is also badly affected by the ridiculous inclusion of the country in the State Department’s list of “state sponsors of terror”. The pretext for this designation was absurd, citing Cuba’s role in supporting peace talks between the Colombian government and guerilla groups. It is even more ironic now that the U.S. government has armed the biggest terrorist regime in the world – Israel – as it conducts a genocide against the Palestinian people. Like the 243 additional measures that tightened the blockade, the “sponsor of terror” designation was imposed by Trump and upheld by Biden.
The cruel economic war on Cuba aims to make life unlivable for the Cuban people, and engineer a situation that would lead to the overthrow of the revolution and its socialist project. There is no limit to the amount of suffering the U.S. government is willing to impose on the population in order to return the country to its old status as a de facto colony of Washington and Wall Street. It is up to people of conscience in the heart of the empire to step up the pressure on the Biden administration to reverse the 243 Trump-era measures, cancel the “state sponsor of terror” designation, and end the blockade once and for all!
