Hurricane Rafael deepens Cuba's power crisis, sparks protests
Hurricane Rafael has caused significant damage to Cuba's already compromised power grid, leading to power outages on the island since Friday. This has been accompanied by peaceful protests by people desperate for electricity, water, and food. Russia has promised to send humanitarian aid.
The greatest paralysis of the electricity transmission system is occurring in the provinces of Artemisa and Mayabeque in the west of the country, where the most anti-government demonstrations are taking place. There is also a shortage of electricity in the Havana metropolitan area, the capital of the country, reports Radio Martí.
"We are in a critical situation," says a Havana resident to Radio Martí, adding that "you can't just blame Hurricane Rafael; power shortages have always been there."
Hurricane Rafael passed over Cuba during the night from Wednesday to Thursday. The storm brought with it powerful winds and heavy rainfall. Winds reached speeds of up to 185 km/h, damaging houses, uprooting trees, and toppling telephone and power poles.
Despite several days passing, millions of Cubans still struggle with a lack of electricity, water, and food.
As Radio Martí reports, when Cubans finally managed to charge their phones and connect to the Internet, they saw videos of civic protests in various parts of the country.
Instead of a Molotov cocktail, a pot and spoon
Despite warnings from the communist regime about zero tolerance for demonstrations of widespread dissatisfaction, in several neighbourhoods of the capital, people protested after dark in front of their homes, banging spoons on pots.
In the city of Encrucijada, some dared to go to the local authorities' headquarters, but several of them were detained, reports Radio Martí. According to independent media and Cuban internet users, by Saturday evening, the authorities had detained about 20 participants in the peaceful protests.
As reported by Radio Martí, Russian authorities announced that they will send Cuba about 72,600 metric tonnes of diesel fuel worth 60 million dollars as humanitarian aid.
