Cuba’s biggest blackout in at least two years left millions without power and prompted the government to announce emergency measures
Millions of Cubans were plunged into total darkness as they faced a country-wide blackout after a power plant failed, causing the nation’s electrical grid to disconnect.
Government officials, who had warned about ongoing blackouts in recent days, implemented emergency measures such as suspending classes, shutting down some state-owned workplaces and canceling non-essential services
Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz said in an address on Thursday evening that the government had been “paralyzing” the economy in recent weeks in an attempt to continue providing electricity to citizens.
For weeks, Cuba has suffered a fuel shortage which has impacted the ability to run the power grid. Parts of the country have had no power for 12 hours a day. When power is turned on, demand increases putting a strain on the weak infrastructure.
That is, in part, due to an economic crisis and weather-related problems which have made imports difficult to obtain.
China is pretty far away from Cuba, so even if they can it’s not a natural primary trade partner. With the globalization of trade, it could maybe be fine for some things, but not things that you need suddenly.
Also, any ships stopping at Cuba can’t go to the US for 180 days, so if a vessel carrying goods from China stops at Cuba it can’t also stop at the US, which is a slightly larger economy.
I was more thinking in the context of belt and road. Throw some solar and wind on the islands.