On Monday, a failure in Cuba’s National Electric System—the causes of which are still under investigation—left more than nine million people without power in Cuba; it was the sixth nationwide blackout in a year and a half.
According to the Ministry of Energy and Mines, seven of the 16 thermal power plants were back online by noon on Tuesday, and the grid is interconnected from Pinar del Río to Holguín, although power outages remain widespread in several regions. Three eastern provinces—Santiago de Cuba, Granma, and Guantánamo—have not yet been reconnected to the SEN and rely on microgrids that provide power only for essential services, such as hospitals, telecommunications, water supply, and food production.
In Havana, power has been restored to 44.5% of all customers. It will take many hours, and perhaps days, to achieve full reconnection. Yesterday, amid the uncertainty, photojournalist Otmaro Rodríguez roamed the streets and the Malecón on Monday to capture what the power outage cannot completely stop: life.
Among the scenes he witnessed and captured with his camera were neighbors making do on the sidewalks, young people diving into the sea in front of Morro Castle, couples walking hand in hand along the water’s edge, and elderly people moving chess pieces in the dim light of a doorway.
Everyone is doing what they can to keep going, hoping that the power will come back on for at least a few hours.
On the Malecón, dozens of people were strolling, selling, swimming. The city remains alive, in a Havana that never quite goes dark.
