Photo by Ansalmo Juvaga
By Jo Nova
Things were dire in October, and they aren’t getting better:
Spare a thought for the people of Cuba. In October, Cuba suffered through a week of extended blackouts when 7 out of 8 power plants were out of action. After power was restored it meant people in Havana, the capital city, got 4 or 5 hours of electricity a day. (So they only had 20 hour blackouts each day, instead of 24 hour ones). According to The National, people often travel by horse-drawn carts rather than motor cars, and in the countryside, it’s a common sight to see ploughs being pulled by oxen. “Motorways connecting major cities are eerily quiet. ”
Not surprisingly, in the last few years, ten percent of the entire population has left (mostly for Florida). Unfortunately for Cuba, these were the working age adults. Predictably, the loss of productive workers and productive electricity means the loss of product, and so it has come to pass:
Cuba Runs Out of Sugar
John Hindraker, Powerline
This is like Libya running out of sand: Cuba is now an importer of sugar:
The Cuban government acknowledged that it is “shameful” for the island, traditionally one of the leading sugar producers in Latin America, to be forced to import this product.
Cuba was once known as the Sugar Bowl of the world.
John Hindraker calculates that the current cost of a pound of sugar in Cuba is about $25 US.
Blackouts on top of Blackouts
Apparently, the Cuban grid managers were expecting to be 1,311MW short today on a grid that was theoretically 3,150 MW. The reasons being just about everything:
Cuba’s Electric Union Warns of Major Power Outages This Friday
The power outages are primarily due to a deficit in power generation, compounded by issues such as equipment failures and maintenance at key thermal power plants, as well as fuel shortages affecting distributed generation stations.
Not surprisingly, the buzz of diesel generators, and $25-per-pound sugar means the islands other big industry — tourism — is dying as well:
As Cuba grapples with power shortages and a stuttering economy, tourists stay away
The National
One hostel owner in Old Havana, the capital’s partly-restored tourist hotspot, said that there used to be “a lot of tourists” but the situation now was “very, very difficult”.
As usual the Media is covering up for Communist dictators. Francis Menton looks at China and Venezuela as well: End Of Year World Socialism Round-Up: Cuba, China, Venezuela
Though The NY Times has a story on Cuba — but only because they think they can blame it on Domald Trump.
10 Years Ago, a U.S. Thaw Fueled Cuban Dreams. Now Hope Is Lost.
Ten years ago, President Barack Obama stunned the world by restoring diplomatic relations with Cuba, ending more than 50 years of Cold War estrangement between the United States and a country with which it had once been on the brink of nuclear war.
For two and a half years, Cuba brimmed with enthusiasm amid a remarkable wave of investment and tourism,…
But a financial implosion caused by a cascade of factors — the tightening of U.S. policy by the Trump administration, Cuba’s mismanagement of its economy, the crushing effect of the Covid-19 pandemic — has kept visitors away and launched an immigration exodus of epic proportions.
Teach the children. Big Governments can wreck anything.
h/ t Bally, and Manhattan Contrarian…