Cuba hit with fifth blackout in less than a year with 10M people in the dark

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/10/cuba-electricity-power-blackout

by PaulHoule • 10 months ago

18 28 10 months ago

pharos923• 10 months ago

I had communist leaning political sentiment in my youth, and traveled to Cuba in my early 20's.

You could tell the country (and Havana in particular) had once been stunning. I was horrified by what I saw; just how broken the infrastructure was, how poor and destitute the people were. The quality of food was poor, the country dirty, access to basic energy needs unmet. The cost of basic services high (i.e. $100 USD cab ride from airport to Havana).

I spent a lot of time getting to know locals and understanding what life looked like. Ration books for food, suppression of speech and behavior/associations. At the time, I was a mad keen surfer and met a few locals who showed me their hand-made boards, sourced from scrap and supplies stolen from their jobs. The state at the time viewed it as a non-sanctioned activity, and so no resources were approved for it.

That experience for me was certainly the straw that broke the camels back in terms of sympathy for communist-leaning ideologies. I hope the Cuban people break free of state tyranny.

Qem2• 10 months ago

I was horrified by what I saw; just how broken the infrastructure was, how poor and destitute the people were.

Yet they manage to have better healthcare overall.

PaulHoule• 10 months ago

Compared to many places in Latin America, yes, but that’s not a high standard.

pharos923• 10 months ago

That's a horrific price to pay for the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff.

Personally I look to Scandinavia for the ideal model. High economic freedom & mobile capital, excellent healthcare & public services, high degree of social rights & liberties.

mensetmanusman• 10 months ago

How do you define better?

Cost?

The U.S. leads in advanced diagnostics (MRI, CT scans), surgical techniques, pharmaceuticals, and access to the latest therapies. (Cuban hospitals often lack basic supplies, equipment, and medications.)

Care? Patients in Cuba often face rationing and shortages of drugs, even common antibiotics or painkillers. The U.S. has issues with affordability but generally ensures availability once in the system.

Doctors? Cuba trains many doctors, but the government sends them abroad for revenue, leaving gaps in domestic care.

Advanced treatments? The U.S. is the global leader in pharmaceutical development, medical devices, and innovation.

“better” might imply higher quality of care and outcomes for complex conditions, where the U.S. clearly outperforms.

southernplaces74• 10 months ago

Yet they manage to have better healthcare overall.

Really? You've got the numbers and overall view to know this, as opposed to simply the stats from a famously mendacious, repressive one-party regime that has been repressing all kinds of access to information against even its own people for decades?

Tiktaalik3• 10 months ago

Yeah but it's also been under severe embargo the entire time. So are you seeing the effects of communism or the embargo? It's hard to tell.

nradov7• 10 months ago

The embargo certainly isn't forcing Communists to suppress free speech or hold political prisoners.

pharos923• 10 months ago

They still have the freedom to trade with many countries (China, Russia, Iran etc). China alone would meet the majority of their import needs.

Cuba in reality produces very little goods by way of quantity and quality.

matthewdgreen• 10 months ago

So much of this is phrased as “communism bad” and sure, it has been. But this lesson could equally be phrased as “electing personality cult strongman and gutting the mechanisms that prevented personal rule and dominance of the economy are bad.” Just as food for thought.

Cuba hit with fifth blackout in less than a year with 10M people in the dark

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