Why Cuba Is in the Dark
By
Javier Corrales
Extended blackouts reflect what might be the nation’s worst collapse since independence.
Cuba has just undergone long, brutal days of total blackout. The renewed power outages represent more than just an energy crisis: They’re a sign of a grave systemic crisis. Cuba’s economy, not just the energy sector, is in the midst of its worst collapse, perhaps since independence in 1902. The current crisis is arguably worse than the calamitous crash of the early 1990s—the so-called Special Period—when the Cuban economy shrank by more than a third over four years. That’s not just because of the depth of the current decline, but also because it’s occuring when the...
Read this article on the Americas Quarterly website. | Subscribe to AQ.
