Cuba swelters as blackouts, crisis persist
MANICARAGUA, Cuba -- It's early afternoon in this sweltering town, but air conditioners are off, the lights are out, and stereos are silent.
Like much of Cuba, Manicaragua is suffering through one of the lengthy blackouts that have plagued this island nation in recent months, setting residents on edge, fanning discontent, and forcing President Fidel Castro to take to the airwaves last week to cool tempers.
"We have a crisis," Castro said last week during a national television broadcast to address the energy shortages.
The 78-year-old leader said there was no quick fix for Cuba's antiquated and problem-plagued electrical grid but pledged to significantly boost the island's electrical output.
Power failures are nothing new in Cuba but they have intensified in recent months and changed life in large ways and small.
More than 100 factories are being temporarily closed to save electricity. The work and school day is being shortened by 30 minutes. Daylight savings time is being kept through the winter months so students will not have to study in the dark if a blackout hits during the morning hours. Streetlights also are being dimmed, and air conditioners are being turned off during peak hours to conserve energy.
In Manicaragua, a town 175 miles southeast of Havana set amid lush rolling hills and renowned for its world-class tobacco, one of two local banks and its only currency exchange shop are closed during the blackouts.
The local photography shop can't print photographs without power. Restaurants can't serve ice cream or offer croquetas, a popular fried snack in Cuba.
Some residents are sleeping on rooftops or in doorways to cope with the stifling heat, which turns the town's cement-block homes into ovens without functioning air conditioners or electric fans.
"It's unbearable at night," said Marisa Alejo, a 43-year-old special-education teacher.
Diplomats and observers say the blackouts lasting up to 12 hours a day represent a sharp challenge to the leadership of Latin America's only communist state. The last protest against the Cuban government occurred a decade ago when the island nation suffered a devastating economic crisis sparked by the collapse of the Soviet Union.
