Blackouts on the Caribbean island are shining a light on a crumbling economy that the nation’s communist leaders may struggle to emerge from.
On Oct. 18, 2024, the nation’s electrical grid failed, leaving Cuba ns without lights or refrigeration. Blackouts have persisted since, and as of Nov. 4 they show no sign of letting up.
This time, however, it is not clear that either strategy will be sufficient for the heirs of Fidel Castro to preserve their power. But after the Cuban Revolution ended in 1959, the United States severed diplomatic and economic ties with the new regime, and the Soviet Union became Cuba’s patron. Longtime dictator Fidel Castro referred to the era as the “Special Period in time of Peace.” But I know Cubans who remember the 1990s as a time of eating beans, rice and grapefruit peels when they were lucky, sugared water when they were not.
Following Chavez’s death in 2013, however, Venezuela entered an economic crisis even worse than Cuba’s – the result of unprecedented mismanagement, overreliance on petroleum sales and the impact of U.S. sanctions. Chavez’s subsidies slowed to a trickle by 2019 and have yet to return. But limited economic privatization beginning in 2008 has meant that today one-third of all Cubans make their living in the private sector, up from 23% in 2020.
U.S. policy eases Cuba’s problems Emigration means fewer demands on public services and scarce resources, such as food and electricity.
China Cuba Cuban Economy Cuban Exiles Cuban History Cubans Fidel Castro Russia US-Cuba Relations US-Cuba Ties Venezuela Venezuelan Oil
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