Cuba's electricity failed again

Dec. 4, 2024

Cuba’s power grid collapsed in the night, after the country’s largest power plant failed. Millions remained without energy today, schools were shut down and non-official workers were asked to stay home.

The state-run utility company, the Cuban Electric Union, said workers were attempting to get the grid back online, but said the difficult process of restoring power to aging Soviet-era power stations could take days. (CNN, AFP)

Cuba’s energy minister Vicente de la O'Levy said the government had prioritized hospitals and water pumping facilities as it began restoring electricity to scattered circuits around the country today. (Reuters)

It is the latest in a series of breakdowns in recent months that have afflicted Cuba’s aging electricity system, exacerbated by fuel shortages and extreme weather. Millions of people across Cuba have been weathering hours-long rolling blackouts daily for months.

Nicaragua

• A new law passed by Nicaragua’s Ortega-loyalist legislature permits authorities to deny government critics entry and exit from the country — codifying a practise that has been going on for years anyway, reports El País. The move is particularly impactful coming just before the holidays.

Guatemala

• Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo’s political party, Movimiento Semilla, is struggling to reinstate itself after a judge suspended it last week, based on alleged acts of corruption. Yesterday the Constitutional Court denied the party its request for a writ of protection from Judge Fredy Orellana’s decision. (Prensa Libre)

Venezuela

• The United Nations human rights commission is investigating Venezuela’s July presidential elections, and called on the government to conserve the tally sheets that could verify the questioned results, reports El País.

Regional Relations

• Argentina has denounced Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s government before the International Criminal Court, accusing it of besieging its Embassy in Caracas where six opposition Venezuelan leaders have been in hiding since March, reports AFP.

• U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s tariff threats against close allies make no economic sense, nor are the pretexts he offered, migration and drugs, credible, argues Mark Weisbrot in the Guardian.

Migration

• Trump’s promises to crackdown even more on migration, and the violence migrants face in Mexico, means that many people might be pushed to return home “despite the ongoing issues that drove them to migrate, such as poverty, lack of employment, insecurity, and political crises,” reports Reuters.

• The trek across Darién Gap on the Pacific side of the isthmus between Colombia and Panama is even more treacherous than the infamous Caribbean crossing that has become a migrant highway — nonetheless, increasing numbers of migrants are opting for the Pacific path, reports InSight Crime.

• Argentine President Javier Milei will propose legislation to charge non-resident foreigners for education and health services, making migrants the latest “other” in his right-wing populist discourse. The thing is, you need to be a resident to access public education, and health care is regulated at a provincial level, notes Página 12.

Regional

• A CPAC gathering in Buenos Aires has gathered representatives of the Trump and Bolsonaro clans. Local speakers include Argentine Economy Minister Luis Caputo — who will give a speech titled “Economic culture war: the end of socialism” — and Security Minister Patricia Bullrich; her presentation is called “New Argentine doctrine: what goes around, comes around.” (Buenos Aires Herald)

• Eduardo Bolsonaro took advantage of his trip to meet with some of the Brazilians detained in Argentina after participating in riots in the Brazilian capital last year. (Página 12)

• The European Union will delay the introduction of new rules to ban the sale of products that lead to massive deforestation, caving in to demands from several producer nations from across the globe who are worried the regulation could act as a trade barrier, hit small farmers and disrupt supply chains, reports the Associated Press.

Brazil

• “One of the cornerstones of Amazon rainforest protection – the Soy Moratorium – is under unprecedented pressure from Brazilian agribusiness organisations, politicians, and global trading companies,” reports the Guardian.

• The Brazilian government failed to follow through on its commitment to enact a National Pesticide Reduction Program, denounced Human Rights Watch this week. Brazil is among the top consumers of pesticides in the world, many of which are highly hazardous.

• Brazil’s failure to grapple with the legacy of its military dictatorship puts the country at risk of democratic breakdown, according to Marcelo Rubens Paiva, whose book on his father’s disappearance at hands of the authoritarian government has become a bestseller. (Guardian)

Mexico

• Mexican soldiers and marines have seized over a ton of fentanyl pills in two raids in the north. Officials say it is the biggest catch of the synthetic opioid in the country’s history, reports the Associated Press. (See also El País)

• The IDB announced that it will support Mexico in the design and implementation of a National Care System proposed by President Claudia Sheinbaum — Animal Político.

Chile

• Chilean President Gabriel Boric announced he is expecting a baby with his girlfriend, Paula Carrasco. (El País)

Culture Corner

• Five minutes that will make you love Brazilian jazz — New York Times