Recent national power outages have left devastating images, such as last Monday's major blackout that lasted for 12 consecutive hours. The energy paralysis is not an isolated incident but the result of a perfect storm: the country has gone three months without receiving crude oil, and the government directly blames external pressure, denouncing that "the United States continues to block the country."
Facing a shortage of gasoline and diesel, the characteristic sound of auxiliary engines— that constant "rattling"— has become the soundtrack of survival in Cuban cities, at least until the stored fuel runs out. However, where conventional methods fail, local inventiveness emerges. The case of Juan Carlos, a mechanic who has captured attention, symbolizes this resistance. Unable to refuel, he has "modified a car so that its fuel is coal."
This technique, reminiscent of wartime, has become an accessible and direct solution to keep the pace of work and transportation in an environment where oil is a nonexistent luxury. Aware that the current model is unsustainable, authorities and the civilian population are looking towards the sky. The island's privileged climatic conditions allow for the attempt to capitalize on long hours of sunlight through the use of photovoltaic panels. However, the road to energy sovereignty is still long and costly.
Currently, despite their high price, these types of installations "only meet 10% of the national energy demand." To reverse this figure, an ambitious plan has been set in motion, including the "3,000 new installations" that, together with citizen efforts, seek that "necessary energy independence" to allow Cuba to leave behind the era of blackouts and coal-powered engines.