MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Cuba lives through Hurricane Oscar amid power shortages

Díaz-Canel had to cancel his trip to the BRICS Summit due to the power shortage coupled with the weather crisis

In addition to the current electricity supply crisis, Cuba's eastern province of Guantanamo, near Baracoa, was hit by Category I Hurricane Oscar late Sunday with maximum sustained winds of nearly 80 mph (130km/h). Oscar later waned to a tropical storm with 70 mph winds, the US National Hurricane Center said but it could still cause significant flash flooding and mudslides.

The weather phenomenon struck as the country gradually restored the power supply, which collapsed once again. As a result, water distribution also faltered in the absence of proper pumping leading some people to cook with firewood on the streets as food has started to rot in fridges.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on Saturday that authorities were “working hard to protect the people and economic resources, given the imminent arrival of Hurricane Oscar.” He also warned on Sunday that the government would act “severely” against anyone who attempted to “disturb public order” during the blackout.

The storm added to Cuba’s struggles with inflation, and shortages of food, medicine, and fuel, which Díaz-Canel linked to a six-decade-long US trade embargo.

On Monday, Oscar was already a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 110 km/h. According to Cuba's Institute of Meteorology Forecast Center tropical storm winds would continue at speeds between 85 and 100 km/h, particularly north of Guantanamo and Holguín. Moderate to heavy coastal flooding was also to be expected, with record rains and thunderstorms.

In this scenario, Cuba's National Civil Defense (CD) established the Cyclonic Alarm phase for the provinces of Guantánamo, Santiago de Cuba, Holguín, Granma, and Las Tunas, in addition to a Cyclonic Alert in Camagüey.

Given the current situation, Díaz Canel announced Monday that he would be canceling his trip to Kazan, Russia, for his guest appearance at the BRICS Summit. Instead, the Caribbean nation would be represented by Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez. Díaz-Canel regretted that the gathering would have given him the chance to meet with Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Xi Jinping of China, as well as leaders of Vietnam and other friendly countries.

“A country like ours, which has been constantly besieged by imperial policy, enduring an intensified blockade, an inclusion in a spurious list of countries that allegedly support terrorism, finds in the BRICS an environment of inclusion, equality, cooperation, and solidarity,” he stressed.