Cuban government announces measures in the face fuel shortages
HAVANA, Sept.. 28th. The Cuban government announced on Wednesday energy-saving measures and restrictions, after announcing that in the coming weeks, fuel will be scarce again due to financial difficulties for its import.The Deputy Prime Minister and head of Economy and Planning, Alejandro Gil, reported in a television appearance that at this moment there is “a lower level of fuels”, which will have a “real impact” on the economic situation of the country, which is going through a serious economic crisis.
In this sense, Gil said that the government has made “a projection” and is “planning in detail” for the “more rational” use of fuel in the next two weeks. “Life is hard, but the only way out is revolution and socialism,” argued the official.
He indicated that the energy-saving measures will be aimed at ensuring “the vitality” of the main activities of the population and the economy such as agriculture, and priority areas such as health and tourism.
He acknowledged that public transportation will suffer the effects of fuel limitations and that some non-emergency activities will be reduced and postponed.
However, he stated that Cuba is not in a “zero fuel” scenario and that the current contingency will be conducted in a “coherent” manner so that the impact is “more manageable.”
For his part, the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, explained that Cuba consumes about 120,000 to 130,000 tons of diesel fuel monthly.
He warned that there is a “very tight” and “tense” situation these days, and predicted that there will be daily blackouts because “we are not going to have the level of fuel that we need or that we had in previous months.” But he estimated that an improvement is expected for next October.
In recent weeks, power outages have increased, with blackouts affecting up to 27% of the country at times.
The Cuban National Electric System (SEN) is in a precarious situation, with obsolete generation and distribution systems and a chronic deficit in maintenance and investments.
Failures and stoppages are frequent in the country’s seven thermoelectric plants, infrastructures with an average of about 40 years of operation (above their programmed life).
Added to these contingencies are the country’s financial problems in acquiring fuel and resources abroad in the midst of an economic crisis that the authorities describe as “very complex.”
